Breaking the Shields of the Soul
by Kisekilotus
Summary: She fell for him; hard. But to him, it’s like she doesn’t exist. What will it take for her to win the heart of the man she loves and in the end; will it all be worth it? A wise man once said, “Be careful what you wish for, you just may get it.” NejiSaku
1. Obsessed

**Okay, so I absolutely adore Neji and most (actually all) of my favorite Naruto pairings deal with Sakura; so I thought, why not try a NejiSaku fic. So go on and read and let me know what you think, 'kay? 'Kay! Enjoy!**

**Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto. I wish I owned Neji but that's another story for another day…XD**

The blazing, red-orange evening sun was slowly dropping below the horizon as four, dejected souls returned to the Leaf Village. Today had held the promise of being an energetic, violent packed mission on which Sakura and her comrades, Shikamaru, Naruto, and Kiba, were to free a small nearby town that had been usurped by six bandits.

Lady Tsunade hadn't intended on sending a full squad out just for them, but the villager who had escaped and come to her for help warned her that the men who had taken over their humble village weren't ordinary bandits; they were ninja of high caliber.

When they got there, they found the villager hadn't completely lied. The men were ninja, but not those of high ability. In fact, the men possessed no more skills than an Academy Student would. Naruto had used his Shadow Clone Jutsu to take them out in less than half a minute.

Now, as they returned to the village, all four were greatly unhappy; Naruto and Kiba because they were looking for a fight, and Sakura and Shikamaru upset because they had just wasted their time.

"I'll go fill out the mission report. You're all dismissed." Shikamaru headed lazily for the Hokage's office after they walked through the village gates.

"Hey, I'm goin to Ichiraku's, you guys wanna come?" Naruto asked as he back peddled a few feet behind Shikamaru.

"Yeah I guess. It's not like I worked up an appetite or anything though…" Kiba griped as he followed Naruto.

"Sakura?" Naruto called, still moving.

"No, that's alright. You two go ahead." Sakura shook her head as she waved the distancing guys on.

"You want us to walk you home?" Naruto offered.

"No thanks, I'm gonna head out and do some training," Sakura jerked her head backwards as she back peddled for the village gates.

"Hey that's a good idea! We should come with you!" Naruto smiled as he began walking forwards for Sakura, pulling Kiba with him.

"Actually!--" Sakura interrupted, holding her hands out quickly in front of her as if they were a shield. "I'm just gonna do some medical stuff, you know? Work on my jutsu. Find herbs. Stuff like that. Usually I do stuff like that alone, you know? Hey, but tomorrow, I'll **definitely** look you up on that offer!"

"Cool, we don't want to bother you or anything. Later!" Kiba called as he waved goodbye, pulling Naruto with him. Sakura was grateful that Kiba understood her message in saying that she wanted to be alone. Although he didn't know the reason why, he still was accepting and even pulled Naruto away as well.

"Alright Sakura, see ya tomorrow!" Naruto waved as he and Kiba rushed off. The two ran past Shikamaru, purposely bumping him on the way. Shikamaru muttered something Sakura couldn't hear and kept on.

Waiting until they were pretty far away, Sakura lifted her leg and whirled around on her foot with a sigh. Then she took off into the forest with no intention whatsoever to train. Her true goal was to set her eyes on the wonderful sight she'd passed over on her return home.

Running through the tree tops, Sakura scanned the ground below in search of her target. All of a sudden, a strong gust of wind blew from somewhere below her off into the distance. She grabbed the tree branch she stood on to steady herself.

Sakura grinned. "Found ya!"

Stealthily climbing through the treetops, Sakura edged her way closer as a couple more of the gusts hit, getting stronger each time.

Finally, she arrived to the spot where the wind was originating from. Below her in one of the forest clearings stood a tall, handsome man with long brown hair pulled loosely back. His pale skin, stretched tightly around his long, slender muscles, and was gleaming with sweat. He was shirtless and his chiseled torso heaved lightly from exertion.

There was still a good distance between them, but Sakura knew instantly who it was. Neji Hyuuga. It wasn't so much because Sakura recognized him from seeing him around the village, but because she'd secretly been watching him, day after day. Fascinated. She inhaled sharply as she stared down at him. 

'_When had Neji gotten so hot_?' She wondered in ogling amazement at his ripped body.

Neji had always been popular among the women, but Sakura never thought much of him. Yes he was handsome; with the attractively pale skin of his strong, structured, face smooth and blemish free. His clear, off white eyes were mesmerizing, wise and always seemingly deep in thought. Outwardly, everything about him, though striking, seemed cold and hard, but inside, Sakura was **certain** that even Neji had a warm side.

The gust of wind came again; Neji was practicing his Rotation Jutsu. As time passed, Neji had, of course, gotten stronger and consequently so had his jutsu. As he executed Rotation with such power and perfection, it caused a strong gust of wind as an aftershock.

Sakura continued watching with her mouth slightly open in admiration as Neji's masculinely lithe body gracefully and dangerously danced around the small clearing. Chakra burst in short successions from his long, supple hands. His moves were limber and elegant and they seemed like an exquisite dance; not like the deadly, dangerous jutsu that it was.

Flawlessly, Neji continued on with his jutsu as Sakura ogled in silence. He was fantastic! His body twisted and bent this way and that as he attacked the wooden targets, then another gust of wind hit and nearly blasted Sakura away. She took refuge behind the tree she was hiding in until the attack died down.

When it did, Sakura peeked from around the tree bark and saw Neji; his body squatted down low above the ground as his arms extended lengthwise. His shoulders rose and fell slightly as he quietly panted in and out.

Sakura's eyes drifted across Neji's body when a thought entered her head; a thought that hadn't occurred to her not once sense now. Neji was **training**. Therefore he was most likely using his Byakugan. With the Byakugan, Neji would be able to see Sakura watching him. Her eyes widened and she took off quietly towards the village; hoping Neji hadn't noticed her.

Back at the clearing, Neji slowly stood erect. He closed his eyes then took a deep breath. Then he slowly turned and looked to the exact spot from which Sakura had just run from.

"Tchh." Neji scoffed. She had been watching him again; a ritual she was getting much too accustomed to. It frustrated Neji to no end- having someone basically watching his every movements- but he never said anything. He just hoped that maybe one day Sakura would get some sense and stop stalking him.

Neji only sighed as he realized, at the rate things were going now, that may never happen for awhile. The curious, bright green eyes of the pink haired kunoichi filled Neji's mind and he scoffed in annoyance. If she didn't stop spying on him, he might have to use **her** as a target for training practice next time. Neji watched as Sakura's figure hastily retreated, then he readied himself and continued on with his training as if nothing had happened.

**So that's all for Chapter 1! I hoped it was to your liking. I know it was short, but I've got the second chapter ready if you all like it so far. Please review and let me know what you think; Constructive criticism good, Flames bad. That's all for now! **

**See ya soon! xoxoxoxoxo**


	2. On My Mind

**So in addition to the first chapter, this one is just to give you a little background on what's going on. So go ahead and read and lemme know what you think!**

**Oh yeah and my sister was home from college this week so we were hanging out together a lot. The chapter was ready and I'm sorry about letting it just sit here until then. **

**Thanks so much for last chapter's reviews! I loved em!!**

**Disclaimer: Do you see Itachi chained to my bed during the show?...No?...Then I do not own Naruto.**

Sakura lay on her back all night, staring through the thick darkness up at the ceiling. No matter how hard she tried to fall asleep, she found herself unable to as her mind was racked with fantasies about Neji.

She planned to the very smallest detail how she would go about winning Neji over. After hours of contemplating, Sakura found that in order to achieve her desire, she was only missing two things. The first was the courage to go about putting her solution into action. The second and most important was that she had no solution at all whether she had to courage or not.

Slowly, Sakura lifted her body up from her bed and dragged her feet through the cold, dark hallway and into the bathroom. With a heavy sigh, she rested her hands on the welcoming, cool porcelain of the bathroom sink as she looked up in the mirror with sorrowful eyes. She couldn't go on like that any longer; thinking Neji, eating Neji, sleeping Neji, **breathing** Neji. It was even worse than the foolish infatuation she'd had over Sasuke when the two were children.

Sakura rolled her eyes and turned off the bathroom light as she retuned to her bedroom. Throwing on a black jacket and some sweatpants, she grabbed her key and left the stuffy, confining apartment in hopes of letting the cool night air calm her.

Outside, the village was quiet and dark with the exception of the artificially bright lights of the shops that remained open even this late at night. Sakura stuffed her hands in her pockets and looked forlornly into the dark, desolate windows of the stores that had packed up for the night.

"Sakura!" Sakura turned towards the sound of the quiet, nervous voice behind her.

"Hinata, hey." Sakura smiled slightly. Hinata's footsteps slowed.

"Are you alright?"

Sakura wanted to tell her no; that at this moment, looking in the familiar, off white eyes of Hinata was only making her hurt even more, but she nodded quickly.

"Yeah I'm fine," she smiled with a wink. "What are you doing out here so late?"

"Oh, the Hokage sent Lee, Choji and I out on a mission earlier this morning. We're just returning now."

"I know Kiba went with us, but where was Shino?"

"He went out on a mission with his father. Seems the three of us were the only chunin left without missions."

"Oh," Sakura nodded and uncomfortably rubbed her arm.

"How did your mission go?" Hinata asked politely.

Sakura shrugged. "Ehhh."

Hinata smiled, "Understood. Well I've gotta head home now. I'll see you later!"

Sakura nodded. "Bye Hinata. Be careful!"

Hinata turned and walked away and Sakura watched her go. When the young girl was out of sight, Sakura covered her eyes with her hands and groaned aloud. Now she felt even worse than before. She turned around slowly and decided to head back home. On the walk there, there was, of course, only one person on her mind. Neji.

The more she thought about him, the more Sakura became upset about the fact that out of all the girls that wanted Neji, her chances of having him were probably less than one in a million. It wasn't because Sakura thought herself to be ugly; she hadn't thought something like that since she was a little girl-before she and Ino became friends. Sakura knew she was pretty; maybe not gorgeous or stunning or as beautiful as some other women, but she knew she was pretty and that was all that mattered.

Also, Sakura was afraid that she was too plain for Neji; not uninteresting, but plain. As her life went on as being a ninja, Sakura realized that, although it was good to take pride in your looks, spending hours in front of a mirror just to prepare for a mission on which you'd more than likely end up sweaty, bleeding, and nearly unconscious, made absolutely no sense at all. Now, she liked to keep things simple and natural. On special occasions, she would, as just about every girl would, dress up in her best and doll herself up, but such occasions happened very rarely.

She wasn't too familiar with Neji on a personal level, so the type of girls he was interested in wasn't something she was well informed on. All she had to go by was what she knew about Neji himself. Neji was quiet and dangerous with an elegant, stately demeanor and a certain je ne sais quoi that was the reason Sakura was so hopelessly drawn in to him.

Arriving at her door, Sakura shoved the key in the lock and turned it; once again walking into the still darkness of her apartment. She walked straight into her bedroom, only stopping to remove her shoes, and, still fully dressed, collapsed in tortuous and exhausting confusion onto her soft, welcoming bed.

**Same note as before, R&R please and thanks for reading! **

**See ya soon! xoxoxoxoxo**


	3. The Rogue Nin

**Sorry about the long update: feel free to blame my government and literature teachers for that! Well so it's chapter three and yeah…I hope ya like it!**

**Thanks so much for the reviews!!**

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**Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto.**

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Sakura awoke tangled in her bed sheets. She had tossed and turned all night as her dreams were filled with dirty, pleasurable activities with the brown haired Hyuuga. She slowly rolled on her stomach, laying her face down in the pillows. Thanks to Neji invading her mind every night, she was getting less rest the more she slept. Sakura rolled over on her back again and off the bed, where she began groggily shuffling her feet towards the bathroom for a much needed shower.

At around nine o'clock that morning, Sakura sat at the small round table in her kitchen; sipping orange juice and finally finishing up a book that she'd started reading eight months ago. She was so engaged in the story that the resounding, urgent at her front door made her jump a little-spilling droplets of juice onto the books pages.

She set her book and cup on the table and walked curiously to the door, though she figured the knock to belong to Naruto. When she opened the door, she didn't see Naruto at all, but a tall, lanky chunin with shaggy, brown-blonde hair.

"Lady Hokage wants to see you." He said to Sakura as soon as she opened the door. "She expects you there in fifteen minutes."

"Alright, thank you Surino," Sakura sighed to the man whom she'd seen around the Hokage's office quite often. Surino was a quiet man; often times saying nothing other than 'hello,' 'how are you,' or 'goodbye,' and right now was no different. He gave a polite nod to Sakura and disappeared from her doorstep.

Laughing quietly to herself, Sakura closed the door behind him. She turned back into her house and headed towards her room where she picked up her apartment key and her headband. Having dressed after her shower in a pair of grey Capri-length sweat pants and a black tank top, she found no need to change and therefore no need to rush. She tied her headband around the short hair of her head and walked out the door.

At approximately nine ten, Sakura walked through the Hokage's office; the last of her three mission teammates. She entered the large room to find Kiba and Shino already there. Beside Shino, stood someone that made Sakura's footsteps falter slightly and her heart pound loudly in her chest. Neji.

Despite the fact that Neji was wearing a loose robe and pants, Sakura could only see him sweaty and topless like she had in the forest yesterday. She avoided eye contact with him-which wasn't hard because he didn't look at her anyway-and silently walked forward to stand beside Kiba; as far away from Neji as possible.

When all four were in line, Lady Tsunade cleared her throat. "Now then, since you are all here, we can begin. If you haven't figured it out by now, I've assembled the four of you to take on a B-ranked mission. Team Eight, the three of you specialize in tracking which is key for this mission. However, Hinata returned home after another mission earlier this morning which is why I have Neji standing in for her spot. Sakura, it's very likely that medical treatment will be needed on this mission. Keep that in mind."

Shizune walked forward as the Hokage paused and opened a long, wide scroll.

"Early this morning, two notorious rouge nin from the Village Hidden in the --, Sezin and Tomoji, were spotted just a few miles from the Leaf border. However, they seem to have disappeared, but the chances that they'll return are very likely. And that's a chance we cannot take. Your mission is to go out there, track the men down, and put an end to their roaming.

"I'd like the four of you to leave within the next twenty minutes. Once you find and bring down the rouge nin, you are to return home."

"Yes ma'am," the four nodded simultaneously.

"Shino, I know that you are typically team leader for your group, but for this mission, leave the task to Neji."

"Understood," Shino responded in his usual, low voice. Sakura bit her lip as she prayed to herself that a conflict of egos wouldn't erupt on this mission.

"Alright, you're all dismissed."

The four left the tower and hurried home preparing for their mission ahead. Back at Sakura's apartment, Naruto was just turning and walking away from the door.

"Hey there you are!" he smiled as he waved to her. "I was gonna ask you if you wanted to get a little early mornin trainin goin on?"

Sakura smiled apologetically as she ran past Naruto and to her door. Unlocking it, she rushed inside and left it open for him to follow.

"Sorry I can't!" she called over her shoulder as she headed into her bedroom. "Lady Tsunade just gave me a mission. I have to leave like now!"

Naruto groaned. "Fine, I'll just practice by myself."

"You'll get over it," Sakura scoffed playfully as she rummaged through her closet, trying to find the perfect outfit to wear around Neji.

"Need any help?" Naruto offered, leaning against the doorframe of her bedroom.

"Um…no thanks," Sakura huffed, as she finally found an outfit and shoved it in her bag. Then realizing that the mission wouldn't probably take long, she ran for Naruto, shoving him away from the door as she closed it.

"O…kay….are you alright Sakura?" Naruto asked in confusion through the closed door.

"I'm fine!" Sakura yelled back as she ripped the outfit she was wearing off and pulled the other one-a short skirt with tights and a sleeveless tank top- on. "I'm just in a hurry. I told you I gotta be there in a few minutes!"

"So why are you changing?" Naruto asked as he slid down the wall opposite the door and sat on the hard, wooden floor. He knew from experience that on missions, Sakura tried to keep things as simple and comfortable as possible. Ordinarily, the outfit she had on would do her perfectly.

"What?" Sakura yelled through the door, unable to hear her comrade. Her head was once again stuck in her closet as she rummaged through her belongings.

"Why are you changing?" Naruto repeated, louder this time.

"What?" Sakura yelled back again.

"I SAID--" Sakura's bedroom door opened up and Naruto fell quiet. "Never mind."

Sakura rolled her eyes playfully. "Alright, come on you gotta leave now!"

She dragged the stumbling blonde up and pushed him towards the door.

"Alright, alright! I'm goin!" he said as the two stood outside. Sakura locked the door and bid Naruto goodbye before turning and heading for the village gates; the location in which they were to meet.

"Had to go play dress up?" Kiba smirked as Sakura approached the men. Like earlier, Sakura, though on time, was the last to arrive.

"Shut up Kiba," she scoffed back. "I'm here aren't I?"

"Alright," Neji said, interrupting the conversation. Sakura felt short on air as she heard him speak. "According to the Hokage, the men should be near the town of Jito which is just up ahead. I've scanned the perimeter and from what I can see, they're nowhere to be found.--"

"So what are we gonna do, head to Jito?" Kiba asked impatiently. Neji shot him a look that shut him up and continued.

"We'll proceed ahead in the general direction of Jito; stopping every now and then to check our progress. Now, let's move."

After about fifteen minutes, the group stopped in order to scout out their targets. They'd covered good ground and were nearly halfway to Jito. Standing a bit off from the group, Neji used his Byakugan to scout ahead.

"They're here," His eyes narrowed as he glared off into the far distance. The four furtively closed the distance between them and their targets. When they were less than a quarter mile from their targets, a kunai came slicing through the trees and was stopped inches from Shino's face by a wall of bugs.

"Are you all gonna just stand back there all day or are you gonna be men and come out to play?" The ninja who'd thrown the kunai asked. He was a tall, effeminate man with slender muscles and tanned skin. Neji led the way, appearing in front of the men of the two men with a silent, deadly glare.

"I take it you're Tomoji," Neji stated rather than asked the man who'd spoken before.

"Heh! Who wants to know?" Tomoji smirked.

"The people who've come to take you down." Neji responded suddenly in indifference.

"You're Leaf shinobi," observed Sezin apathetically. He at least three heads taller than his counterpart with large, thick muscles. His skin was a smooth brown and his eyes were wide and deep.

"Yeah, so what?" a glowering Kiba asked.

"So you don't stand a chance," Tomoji scoffed arrogantly as he threw four kunai in the direction of the men. Shino's bugs blocked them all with another wall, but the kunai proved to be a diversion. Tomoji appeared behind the ninja.

"Senbon Stages!" he yelled and the Leaf shinobi found themselves frozen in place.

"I-is this some kind of paralysis justu?" Kiba grunted as he struggled against the unseen force immobilizing him. Suddenly, everything around them grew pitch black and they felt a complete separation reality and space.

"N-Neji? Kiba? Shino!" Sakura called as she groped blindly through the darkness. She received no answer and took a step forward, only to find herself inexplicably falling. She screamed and shut her eyes tightly.

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**Yes a cliffy ending I know! The next chapter will be up shortly though (I promise!) Ok then, so read and review please and I'll update ASAP!**

**See ya soon! xoxoxoxoxo**


	4. Battle!

**Ok so here's Chapter 4! YEAH!! Umm…I don't have much else to say except for-of course- ****thanks for the reviews and keep 'em comin****!!**

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**Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto.**

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Within seconds from her fall, Sakura's body smacked onto the hard ground and she looked around, bewildered. Beside her stood Neji, Shino, and Kiba; each barely visible in the darkness.

"Sakura," Kiba seemed to breathe a sigh of relief when he saw her. Slowly Sakura stood and took a cautious step before running over to them

"What just happened?" she asked to no one in particular.

"I dunno," Kiba grunted. "Seems like we're in some kinda genjutsu."

"Yes, but this is no ordinary genjutsu," Shino commented with narrowed eyes.

Neji peered intensely into the darkness. "Byakugan!" After seconds of searching, his eyes reverted back to their normal appearance.

"Well, what'd ya find?" asked Kiba somewhat impatiently. Neji's eyes narrowed.

"Nothing…" he said shortly. "But Shino's right, this is no ordinary genjutsu. Stay on your guard."

"What do you think they're gonna--" Sakura's question was cut short by a loud gong resounding through the darkness.

"Stage One." Tomoji's voice echoed though the room in a high, eerie tone. The four captives prepared themselves to face the unknown. The temperature then dropped suddenly and shivers consumed the ninja's bodies.

"Stay sharp." Neji ordered, again releasing his Byakugan. All four raised their kunai in defense, but a sudden downpour of senbon stymied them all. As quickly as it started, the metallic rainstorm ended. Fresh blood leaked from the cuts the four had received.

"So that's their game huh?" scoffed Kiba as he brushed away the blood seeping from the cut on his cheek.

"Yeah…" panted Sakura. "Blind us and then attack."

"That's not it at all." Tomoji laughed as an array of senbon once again attacked his victims. They were much more prepared this time, and despite the limited visibility, they managed to black the majority of the attacks.

"Very good. Once more, shall we? But this time, we'll up it to Stage Two." With a gong crashing twice, another attack began after Tomoji's introduction. This time, like a violent gust of wind, senbon began flying, not only overhead, but to the left and right as well. Their speed was great. Tomoji laughed sadistically as his opponents battled for their lives. Their blocks began to slow, but the needles continued on with impressive speed.

"Help us out here Shino." Kiba grunted; hinting that Shino use his bugs as a wall like he had earlier. Shino ignored him.

"Shino!" Kiba now growled, but Tomoji interjected.

"You can't, can you?" Tomoji patronized with a haughty chuckle.

Sakura's eyes widened and she didn't even feel the senbon that flew into her shoulder. "What does he mean you can't?"

"It's too cold," Shino answered in brevity. Neji shot Shino a silent, questioning gaze, but everyone's questions were answered by the unseen Tomoji.

"It's thirty degrees right now, and the temperature is steady dropping…The insects he has within him can't stand such temperatures. Oh yes yes of course he can try to summon ones that can hold up, but you don't have the energy, do you?"

"You tellin me you're gassed out Shino?" Kiba asked.

"Him? You all are!" Tomoji laughed. "How many senbon per second do you all think you were fighting off? Fifty? A hundred? Thousands?...Try ten-**total**. It's gotten so cold that your bodies have disconnected from reality. Your metabolism is slowing down to stay alive; soon you'll be like bears in hibernation mode-if I decide that is."

The temperature dropped a few more degrees and the kunai dropped from the ninja's brittle hands.

"S-So you're gonna freeze us to death?" Kiba hissed between rattling teeth. He was unimpressed by Tomoji. He saw the dangerous paleness of their skin and the bluish color their frostbitten lips were becoming. However, he wasn't afraid; neither were Shino and Neji. The only one of the four who was concerned was Sakura, whose body shook from fear as well as the cold.

"Mmmm…." Tomoji let out a long thoughtful sigh. "No, that's no fun. Depending on Sezin's mood, I'll either take care of you myself or he might join in on the fun. But trust me, you won't get off so easy as by freezing!"

"S-So what now?" Shino chattered.

"**Now** we finish the Seven Stages," the playful and taunting wink given by Tomoji wasn't seen by his four new friends, but he didn't care. The temperature fell again as the gong rang out three times. "Stage Three."

Shivering, the four braced for attack when something unforeseen happened; the temperature began to rise.

"Looks like Sezin wants to play," sang out Tomoji as he stilled his attack in midair. The team felt their bodies abnormally turn quickly back to normal. For a moment, everything seemed fine until the temperature continued to climb.

"Now what?" Sakura groaned, wiping sweat from her now reddened face.

"Here's a tip…" Tomoji offered with a pleasant airiness in his voice. "Try not to sweat or else this will happen…"

The air once again grew cold and the sweat that had once dripped from their bodies was now frozen on them in a thin sheet of ice. As they broke it with small struggle, Sezin spoke.

"And if you somehow **can** will your body to stop sweating…you'll die quicker."

"Either way you're dead!" Tomoji laughed. The two continued fluctuating the temperature until their opponents bodies had been completely exhausted from adapting to the rapid changes of their surroundings.

They collapsed heavily to the ground as the resounding laughter of both Tomoji and Sezin filled the air.

"No fun…" Tomoji pouted. "I never even got passed the Third Stage!"

The space around them dissolved and the four found their surroundings to resemble the forest once more.

"So you just wanna finish 'em off now?" Tomoji sighed to Sezin as he walked over to where the four lay panting. Sezin shrugged and followed behind Tomoji, picking up a discarded kunai from the ground. He hurled the kunai at Neji's battered body; that lay still except for the steady rise and fall of his back from the deep labored breathing.

The kunai sliced straight through Neji's throat as a small smirk graced Sezin's lips. "So you four managed to escape, huh?" Neji's body transformed into a log as did the other three.

"I guess you all aren't so worthless after all!" laughed Tomoji as he jumped high into the air and released yet another senbon rainstorm down onto the whole forest. Sezin stood calmly atop a tree and out of Tomoji's range. When the attack slowed down, Tomoji landed and Sezin hunted out the men. He dropped to his knees and sent his chakra spreading through the forest; searching for anything within his thirty mile radius.

"It seems they split up," He smirked as he stood tall, towering over Tomoji. "Two went left. Two right."

"I'll go this way." Tomoji nodded heading left. Sezin began swirling a large, metal scythe over his head and took off to the right; in the direction in which Sakura and Neji had fled from Tomoji's unexpected attack.

"Just so you two know…I tire easily. Let's try to keep things interesting." Sezin called as he closed in on Sakura and Neji who were hiding behind a nearby tree.

Neji heard Sezin's loud voice and growled to himself. _How had he gotten stuck with Sakura?_ After the temperature attack, Sakura had passed out cold from the effects. When Tomoji struck once again, Neji was forced to both switch Sakura's body with a nearby rock and manage to lug Sakura away to safety. Now, still unconscious, Sakura was no help to him and even more of a burden than anything.

The cracking of tree branches grew louder as Sezin slowly approached.

"Where are you two?" sang Sezin to himself as he walked through the forest. As long as they were touching the ground or something connected to the ground, he was perfectly capable of searching them out; but he saw no fun in that. Neji carefully hoisted Sakura up, planning to get her to safety before fighting. As he lifted her above his shoulder, Sakura awoke with a loud groan.

Neji grimaced; knowing immediately that their location had been discovered.

"Wh-what's going on?' Sakura moaned, clutching her head. Her questions were answered when the tree behind them was sliced in half.

"Peek a boo…" smiled Sezin. Sakura instinctively readied her kunai while at the same time hiding behind Neji.

Sezin repeatedly slashed the scythe at Neji in a barbaric manner. Neji kept his cool and dodged the attacks to the best of his ability. With every step back that Neji took, Sakura took one back as well. The two danced backwards until Sakura's footing slipped and she fell backwards. Neji was unable to see behind him and stumbled, falling backwards over Sakura.

Sezin seized the scythe and hacked it down in an attempt to hit Sakura. She quickly rolled on her side and on her feet and backed up quickly. Neji was on his feet by now and, though looking at Sezin who stood between them, he was practically seething at Sakura.

"If you won't be of any help, then just stay out of the way." He said coldly to her as he began Gentle Fist against Sezin. Sakura muttered under her breath at Neji.

"I'll show him." She said to herself as she backed up and pulled out three shuriken. She hurled the shuriken at the Sezin's back. Like she hoped, he sensed them and turned to block. Neji seized the opportunity and managed to hit a few critical chakra points causing Sezin's attention to turn slightly to Neji. Sakura savagely charged forward, ready to pummel Sezin with a blow to the nose.

Without even acknowledging Sakura, Sezin dropped less than a split second before Sakura made contact. Not realizing what had happened until too late, Sakura found her fist making brutally fierce contact with Neji instead of her target. Neji threw a hand in front of his face at the last minute, but it did no good and the blow sent him reeling backwards.

Sezin discarded his weapon and popped up to give Sakura a sharp uppercut then a roundhouse kick to the ground. With her nearly out cold, he quickly chased Neji who was doing all he could to defend himself despite the serious disorientation that Sakura's punch had caused him.

Sezin now had his weapon and was prepared to deliver a coup de tat when he was blindsided by a torpedo like attack; Kiba and Akamaru continued pounding away at Sezin in their Fang Over Fang attack.

The two paused for a second only to let Shino take over. A flood of insects swarmed Sezin and entered his body through every crevice they could find. However, before he called for them to finish off the attack, Neji was up again and, regaining his composure and determined to be responsible for the downfall of the rogue nin who'd nearly defeated him, he hit Sezin right in the chest with a fatal hit.

Sezin drew his body in and fell heavily and lifelessly to the ground. Shino's insects scattered out of Sezin's lifeless corpse and returned to their keeper's body. The Leaf victors panted above the finally defeated Sezin.

"Tomoji taken care of?" Neji breathed heavily.

Kiba thumbed his nose with a self righteous smirk. "You know it."

"So our mission is over." Shino observed as he turned.

Neji nodded and wiped the blood from his mouth. "Sakura." He called forcefully and noticeably irritated. "We're heading back to the village."

"…Does…anyone need treatment?" Sakura asked hesitantly. Kiba mouth opened, ready to quip out a smart comment, but the frustrated Hyuuga cut him off.

"If any treatment is needed, we can go to the hospital at the village." Neji retorted curtly. "Let's go."

Neji took off and silently, they all followed; Shino first, then Kiba, and lastly, Sakura-who's head hung to hide her teary eyes. The trip home was tense and quiet. They arrived quickly to the village and-all eager to go their own way- declined any medical help offered or suggested.

A laconic man, Neji silently left the group after the mission and headed towards the tower in which the Hokage's office was located; not even saying goodbye or announcing his departure. No one, not even Kiba, said much of anything. Sakura was, of course, the most downcast of them.

"So…we're good to head home now right?" Kiba asked, careful not to spark any heated emotions. Neji hadn't dismissed them nor requested they follow him. The three just remained silently just inside the gates until Shino nodded.

"I'll see you and Hinata tomorrow morning for training." Kiba only grunted a nod as Shino walked off after lacklusterly bidding them both goodbye.

"You goin home?" Kiba asked, uncomfortably scratching the back of his neck

Sakura sighed and nodded her head, slightly agitated about the entire situation. Kiba cleared his throat, uncertain of whether or not he should ask Sakura if she needed someone to walk her home or not. It was still dusk outside, and judging by her chagrin, Kiba decided to let Sakura make the journey alone.

"Alright. Later." He waved as Sakura already began walking off. Then he turned and made his way to his own welcoming home.

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When she arrived home, Sakura immediately collapsed on the couch in her front room, drew her knees into her chest, and cried. It was all so confusing! All she wanted was to impress Neji, but she ended up making a fool of herself and nearly costing them the mission.

As she covered her wet face with her hands, Sakura took a few deep breaths to try to calm down. Exhaustion overpowering her, she decided to skip dinner and just take a shower before jumping into bed.

The cool refreshing water splashed against Sakura's heated skin and washed the tears and grime away. As Sakura absently washed, she couldn't help but wish that there were showers to wash away emotions; like embarrassment and regret.

After several more minutes of showering, Sakura shut the water off and silently dressed for bed. She towel dried her wet hair before slipping into her soft, forever inviting bed. She lay on her back for about ten minutes and then switched over to her stomach. Still uncomfortable, she rotated to lie on both sides before ending up on her back again fifteen minutes later.

She knew it wasn't so much that she couldn't find a comfortable sleeping position as it was that she couldn't clear her thoughts of Neji and what he must be thinking about her at the moment; or if he was even thinking about her at **all**. Sakura knew Neji could probably care less about **her**, but that didn't do anything to stop **her** from liking **him** even more. And to top it all off, she had to, without a doubt, now seem a worthless nuisance in his eyes. The salty tears slowly began to seep from her closed eyes and Sakura groaned aloud in lovesick agony.

"Damn that Hyuuga bastard for being so irresistible!" Sakura huffed as she angrily pulled her covers her head and prepared herself for the dreams filled with Neji she knew she'd be having that night.

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**See ya soon! xoxoxoxoxo**


	5. The Three Days of Hyuuga

**EEEEEEEEEE!!!! I am SO sorry about the two month long delay!! I was getting buried in homework and tests and crap that I had absolutely NO time for writing. I managed to write a bit here and there between the time span (mainly in classes hehe!) and now I'm back with apologies and four chapters. **

**Oh, and by the way, if any of you were beginning to wonder if I just gave up on the story, then DON'T!!! When I have readers and reviewers, I never just stop mid story and move on to something else or just stop mid story just because I'm tired of it. If I publish something, I intend on completing it. So rest assured my loyal readers that (even if I unfortunately run into another hang up) the story will go on!**

**And more importantly, me thanks you all for the reviews! I love them, keep em coming!!! Oh and also as you will come to find later, pre-chunin Sakura and I don't mix. I'm not a fan of hers, even if it may seem like I was in the prior chapter. And I'm sure my readers (one in particular-wink wink) aren't either and I think it's fine that you let me know that. As I said at the end of the first chapter: I have absolutely nothing against constructive criticism!**

**So with all that being said, I won't hold you up any longer. Read on dear Reader, read on!**

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**Disclaimer: The question was asked…Do you own Naruto? The answer was given…No.**

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Back at the village, Sakura wanted to avoid Neji as much as possible. She slipped through the streets as inconspicuously as she could. If she saw Hinata, Ten Ten, or Lee, she threw herself into the nearest doorway; afraid that Neji may be near.

Two nights after the mission, someone came knocking on Sakura's door. Sakura tiptoed through the front room and pressed her ear to the door, as if that would help her to see through the solid wood any better. A loud pounding rang resounded on the down again and Sakura jumped back with a yelp as her ear began to ring.

"Sakura!" Ino's shrill voice came clearly through the wooden door. "I know you're in there. I heard you!"

Ino pounded at the door again and Sakura groaned as she vigorously rubbed her ear. The beating continued until Sakura pushed herself up and jerked the door open. She step aside as Ino came stumbling in and quickly closed the door behind her.

"May I help you?" Sakura asked with an irritated, cocked brow. Ino whirled to Sakura and jabbed her bold red painted finger at Sakura's nose.

"Alright Missy, what's been up with you?" Ino demanded to know. Sakura swatted Ino's finger from her face and walked nonchalantly into the kitchen.

"If I knew what you meant by that I still probably wouldn't answer…Water?" Sakura offered pulling down two cups. Ino nodded and stormed into the kitchen, still yelling.

"I've been working at the shop all week and I've seen how you walk down the streets as if you're waiting for someone to jump out and attack you! I want answers and I want 'em now!"

Sakura slid Ino's drink across the table and Ino sat down to drink it.

"Oh that," Sakura waved her hand dismissively. "Naruto and I are playing a little training game. It's basically a twenty four-seven thing and I gotta stay on my guard at all times."

Ino stopped her cup just before her lips and shot Sakura a look before taking a sip. She set the now empty cup on the table with a sigh and smiled. "I'm not buying that one. You got another?"

Sakura's brow furrowed and she picked up Ino's cup and took it to the sink. "Huh?"

"I know you Sakura. And I know you're lying." Ino laughed standing from her chair. Sakura laughed playfully and shook her head to brush the matter off. Ino walked up behind her and grabbed Sakura's arm, turning her around to face her. She poked her red nail into Sakura's shoulder as she smiled.

"Whatever you're hiding, I'm gonna find out. Bet on it!" Then Ino released her grip and walked to the front door.

"I'll see ya tomorrow Sakura!" she called pleasantly before waving goodbye and leaving.

Sakura shook her head with a small laugh and followed behind her to lock the closed door. There was no **way** she was going to tell Ino that she was head over heels for Neji. She didn't want to deal with the fear that it would be over the village within days. But more importantly, there were things she had to sort out herself before she was willing to tell anyone about her liking for Neji; no matter how much she trusted them.

Patting her thighs as she walked, Sakura made her way to her bedroom and fell on her bed. She bit the inside of her mouth as she thought things over.

_Neji Hyuuga…_

Sakura had to admit that she was at a serious disadvantage considering how she didn't know anything much about Neji. When she tallied up all she could, she was left with several, useless pieces of information; he was quiet and elegant, with a modest, debonair quality about him, and he was Hinata's cousin. Based on his personality, she concluded that he was probably picky about the women he chose; yet once again, unhelpful information considering the fact that she had no idea which type of women he enjoyed at all. After nearly an hour of pondering, she realized that there was nothing she knew about Neji that would help her get ahead with him.

Instead, she decided to focus on her own strong points. Physically, she'd developed into a woman. Had he noticed that? Honestly she wasn't sure. She'd attempted to flaunt her post pubescent body on the mission that day, but obviously things didn't go as planned. She could always try again though. After all everyone makes mistakes at one point in their lives, and Sakura Haruno was no different.

"All it takes is time…" Sakura thought aloud. "Just…time."

Sakura sighed heavily and spun whimsically on her heel, heading towards her bedroom. A sudden knock at her door had her just as quickly turning around as she crept to answer it. Initially, she assumed it was Ino again and her fingers drummed lightly on the knob as she debated whether or not to open the door.

"C'mon Sakura open your door…" Sakura heard Naruto mutter as he once again pounded on the door. Sakura sighed and jerked it open.

"Yes?"

Pushing past her, Naruto stormed into the house and made his way to the kitchen. He put a kettle of water on the stove and snatched the cabinet door open, pulling down one of the few cups of instant ramen Sakura had.

He sighed heavily and waited impatiently for the water to boil as Sakura stood in the kitchen doorway; eyes wide, mouth agape, arms spread in disbelief.

Naruto noticed her standing there and nodded his head as he muttered, "Oh hi Sakura."

"What is this 'Invade Sakura's Privacy Day' or something?" Sakura scoffed in disbelief. The water had now come to a boil and the kettle whistled sharply. Naruto snatched it from the stove and poured the steaming hot water into the small cup. He helped himself to a chair at the table and began mixing his food, then eating it.

"You know I can't believe the nerve of some people!" Naruto exclaimed with a mouthful of food. He exhaled as he talked in an attempt to cool the scolding hot noodles now in his mouth.

"Uh…yeah. Neither can I!" Sakura scoffed as she gave Naruto a pointed look. Its intentions flew past him and he continued on.

"I mean you work your butt off for something and-what happens- no one cares!"

"Yeah…either that or they barge into your house and gobble it all up." Sakura quipped sarcastically. Again Naruto didn't catch the drift.

" 'Cause you know, I think I worked pretty damn hard to be a ninja and I deserve to go on missions and crap to! You know when my last mission was? Guess! Just Guess!" Sakura opened her mouth to respond, but Naruto gave her no time and continued on. "

"Three days ago! Three frickin days ago!" Naruto exclaimed, stabbing at his ramen. "I think I'm gonna go crazy."

"I'm…sorry?" Sakura offered, confused as to what she should say. She knew that Naruto's dream would be to go on B- or A-ranked missions everyday, but that wasn't possible.

"Grandma Tsunade really pisses me off sometimes! I mean here I am! **Available**! And what does she do? She calls **you** on a mission. No offense!"

Sakura looked confused. "Uh…I'm not supposed to be going on any mission."

"What?...Oh yeah you are. That's actually what I came here to tell you. Yeah the woman wants you in her office like…" Naruto took a bite of ramen and glanced at the clock. "Now."

Sakura's eyes widened. "Why didn't you tell me sooner?"

"Why didn't you ask?" Naruto shrugged casually as he slurped up half the ramen left in the cup.

"I gotta go!" Sakura shook her head as she pulled Naruto up by his arm. He yelped in mild protest and clutched on to his ramen.

"Hey can I get this to go?" He asked in reference to the roughly three strands of ramen left in his cup.

"Take it! It's yours. I don't care. Just come on so I can lock up! I'm probably so late by now!"

Naruto nodded. "Yeah probably. You might wanna run there."

Sakura growled and made a mental note to punch him out for this later. In the meantime, she had to get to the Hokage's office as fast as she possibly could. Locking the door behind Naruto, Sakura took off for the tower.

"Please don't let me be late! Please don't let me be late!" Sakura pleaded again and again.

"**You're late**!" Lady Tsunade growled when Sakura stepped through her office about eight minutes later.

"Yes ma'am, I'm sorry, but I didn't get the me---"

"Never mind that!" Tsunade snapped. "Just come in so we can finish this briefing."

Sakura looked at the three other people in the room for the first time and felt her body about to break out in a cold sweat. There in front of her stood Ten Ten, Lee, and-of course-Neji.

"Sakura!" Lady Tsunade called out again and Sakura was snapped from her trance as she walked forward and joined the group.

Lady Hokage explained to the quartet that they were going to be escorting the daughter of a rich merchant back to her home in the Land of Vines. As far as the Leaf knew, the threat of attack was a fifty-fifty chance. The merchant, Lord Kimahito, had paid an excess of money to ensure that the notorious ninja of the Leaf ensured the protection of his precious daughter, Ame.

"Ninja from the Hidden Cloud Village will arrive tomorrow morning around nine with the young woman. It will be you four's job to meet them here and escort Ame westward and back to her home. Understood?"

The four nodded.

"Good. Now assemble here tomorrow morning so you can make the exchange."

"Right." Neji nodded and Sakura bit back a moan from the excitement she reveled in from hearing him speak.

"Alright, dismissed."

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	6. On the First Day of Hyuuga

**Ahem…continue on. **

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**Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto.**

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That morning at three minutes 'til nine, the four Cloud ninja and Ame arrived in Lady Tsunade's office. The group leader, a short, husky man with medical wraps all over his body, announced themselves to the Hokage. After a series of premeditated procedures, the exchange was made.

"Have fun," one of the Cloud nin smirked to Sakura, Lee, and Ten Ten as the man beside him snickered. Sakura and Ten Ten exchanged weary glances but said nothing and the four ninja took off back to their village.

Shizune opened the door to where Ame waited and out stepped a somewhat lovely young girl with clear, milky skin and shiny, jet black hair. Her almond eyes were a light brown and an obvious frown of displeasure was on her thin, bold red lips.

"Welcome to the Leaf Village Ame. These four will be your escorts for your journey back home." Tsunade smiled pleasantly.

Ame only wrinkled her skinny, pointed nose in disgust. "That horrid little room was unbearably dank."

Lady Tsunade's brow twitched. "You all can be on your way now." The four Leaf Ninja caught the hint and turned to leave.

"It is time for us to go." Lee politely told Ame as he gestured towards the door. She gave him a snobbish glare and seemed prepared to say something when Neji walked past them. Immediately, her eyes sparked with interest and a slow smile broke across her face. Ignoring Lee, she brushed past everyone and followed Neji out the door.

Ten Ten turned to Sakura and rolled her eyes before following joining Lee and following them out the door. Meanwhile, Sakura bit her lip crossly as she followed her group out onto the village streets; repeating within her head the mantra that it was her job to protect Ame…not kill her.

As the group journeyed on, Sakura's disdain for Ame grew more and more. The young lady followed Neji foot to foot and ogled at his every move. It was obvious that Neji couldn't care less about Ame, but that didn't do much to subdue Sakura's scorn.

"Neji," Ame smiled as she batted her eyes at the indifferent Hyuuga. "I'm so tired and hungry; may we rest a while please?"

Neji thought it over for a moment. The group had been walking for a little less than a couple of hours and they still had a long way to go. Despite what anyone may or may not have thought, Neji was a member of the unspoken group of four that was ready to get rid of Ame.

"No, we've still got a long journey ahead of us. Let's at least wait until we get to Hebi Town before we take a break. That way, if nightfall comes, we'll know there's an inn to stay at."

"Oh, but Neji please?" Ame whined annoyingly as she latched on to Neji's arm. Neji winced in irritation and looked towards where Lee and the others stood. Lee nodded wearily. Neji looked back down at the woman still pleading with him and sighed.

"Alright. There's a town up ahead, and I'm sure there's a diner. We call all stop and eat there."

Ame squealed happily and hugged Neji; thinking it was her 'feminine charm' that had won him over. Then she grabbed his hand and rushed ahead towards the upcoming town.

"You okay Sakura?" Ten Ten asked as she walked up behind her friend. Sakura's jaw was clenched and her nostrils were flared as she glared after Ame.

Sakura nodded and spoke in a low malicious voice. "Once we get that bitch to her village, I never wanna see her fuckin face again."

Ten Ten's eyes widened slightly and then she just laughed. "Tell me about it." The brunette jerked her head as she went off to follow the rest into town.

It took them all thirty minutes too long to find somewhere to eat. Every place that Sakura, Ten Ten, and Lee suggested was shot down by Ame with a haughty scoff and a disgusted wrinkle of her nose. While they tried to find a place to eat so they could get to Hebi by nightfall, Ame stayed latched on to Neji's arm as if the two were an item. She either pointed out certain sights that somehow caught her interest or deprecated the acts of the plebian townspeople.

It was near noon and the Town of Hebi was still about four hours away; not factoring in any way in which Ame might-**and would**-slow them down. Neji, obviously aware of Ame's infatuation for him, developed a plan and at the next restaurant, he suggested they go in before anyone else could say something. Ame's brown eyes sparkled at Neji and she acquiesced.

Lee lightly jabbed Ten Ten in the ribs with his elbow as he whispered to her and Sakura, "Is this not the same restaurant Sakura suggested ten minutes ago?"

Sakura pursed her lips and raised her brow knowingly and the three walked into the small eatery.

Ame and Neji were already seated at a table when they walked in. Ten Ten slid into the booth first, followed by Lee, then Sakura slid in herself; inadvertently sitting right in front of Neji who'd slid over as much as he could from the smothering Ame.

The five made there orders and waited in silence; well all except Ame. She unnecessarily reiterated her joyful, wealthy childhood to Neji and the table. The food arrived just as she finished up. Neji sighed in relief; knowing that since-as she had said over and over again-she was such a 'lady' she would not talk with food in her mouth. His assumptions proved correct as Ame fell into silence and ate her food. Unfortunately though, she was a lady who ate like a bird and after around seven, small bites, Ame set down her chopsticks and announced that she was finished eating.

Throughout the meal, she managed to slide closer to Neji-who was already near the edge of the booth- and leaned her delicate face in her hands as she smiled sweetly at him until he finished eating.

"So why are you a ninja anyway? It's not for you." She said suddenly.

"Excuse me?" Neji's brow furrowed as he wiped his face after eating.

"I can look at you and tell." She smiled and with every syllable, gently patted a finger at the corner of his mouth.

"You're like me Neji. Privileged. Honorable. Affluent. You shouldn't be doing the work of others. You should have **others** doing the work for **you**."

"I enjoy being a ninja. Thank you."

"Oh Neji," Ame sighed touching his shoulder. "I can't tell you that I can imagine how such a task can be…fun, but I can tell you that you **don't** belong among people like…well…" She shot a long, conspicuous look at each of the three persons sitting across the table from them. Sakura's jaw tightened and her eyes narrowed at her.

"Well then," Lee announced. "If everyone is done eating we can leave."

"Wait a sec Lee," Sakura shook her head as she remained seated. She looked at Ame. "You described yourself as honorable earlier, right?"

Ame's eyes narrowed and her face tightened with hatred. "Yes. So?"

"Honorable. My. **Ass**." Sakura spat still shaking her head. "To describe Neji as honorable I can understand, but **you**. Honor isn't about how many people your father knows or how notorious you are. It's about your character. Your morality, your strength, your dignity. The way people see you. I haven't been around you for more than a day, but I can tell you right now-based on the way you act and how you treat people- you're the least honorable person I've ever known."

Ame looked at Sakura with daggers in her eyes but said nothing. Sakura glowered back until getting up from the table and turning to leave. Neji stood behind her and she saw as he looked at her, the smallest hint of approval evident in his eyes. Sakura turned quickly away to hide her blushing smile and led the way out the restaurant.

"Well that wasn't so bad. It only took **four and a half hours longer** than it should have!" Ten Ten sighed irritably as the five finally found themselves in the town of Hebi. Neji shot Ten Ten a look but said nothing as he was equally frustrated. It was going on ten o'clock that night and Ame had been responsible for every delay that caused them to be so late.

"You shouldn't complain so much Ten Ten. It's not very becoming." Ame smiled venomously as she bumped past Ten Ten. The brunette growled and Lee placed a hand on her forearm to calm her down.

"There is no need for that." Lee said aloud, looking at Ame fiercely.

"**No**?" Ame sneered, raising a brow at Lee.

"Let's just find a place to stay." Neji commanded as he entered the town. Lee wrapped his arms around a still seething Ten Ten's shoulders as he led her behind Neji and into town.

The five walked into inn after inn searching for rooms, but all reported to be filled up. When they finally found an available one, the frail woman at the front desk told them that she had only two rooms available. Sakura and Ten Ten groaned aloud; knowing they'd be required to bunk with Ame who seemed equally displeased. Neji gave all three girls a look that quieted them and accepted the rooms.

One upstairs in their room, Ame took no time complaining about the room.

"Look at the decorum. Why is it so dirty and smelly in here? Do people really live like this!"

"It looks fine to me Ame." Ten Ten sighed, rubbing her eyes with the palms of her hands.

Ame looked at Ten Ten with an arrogant, spiteful smirk. "I'm sure it looks just fine to the two of **you**."

"You know what---"

"Hey Ame, why don't you go wash up and get into bed." Sakura suggested, interrupting Ten Ten's threat. "We gotta get up early tomorrow and since we got here a little off schedule, we're all gonna need all the rest we can get."

Ame glared at Sakura but seemed to comply; knowing her words were true. After Ame was out the room, Ten Ten turned to Sakura.

"I cannot **stand** that little tramp!" she seethed, sitting down on top of a lone dresser in the room. "And what…are you on her side now?"

Sakura shook her head and whispered. "I had to get her outta the room. I need to talk to you."

Ten Ten jumped down and joined Sakura where she lay on the floor. "What's wrong?"

"TenTen…" she began hesitantly. "May I ask you something?"

"Of course Sakura."

"…How would you feel if I told you that I…that I liked Neji?" Sakura remembered that at one time, Ten Ten was basically infatuated with Neji. Now that Ten Ten and Lee were dating, Sakura hoped that maybe she wouldn't mind so much.

Tenten shrugged and answered honestly. "I dunno. I'd be ok with it if that's what you're asking. You two would probably make a cute couple anyway." She winked and nudged Sakura in the side.

"Thanks," Sakura smiled back. "Now that I know you're ok with me liking him, I need you're help. How, can I make him like me back?"

Ten Ten opened her mouth matter of factly to say something, but just as quickly closed it with furrowed brows. After thinking for a moment, the brunette finally sighed dejectedly. "To tell you the truth, Sakura, I'm not sure."

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**Don't forget to R&R!!!**

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	7. On the Second Day of Hyuuga

**Hello there!!**

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**Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto!!!**

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The quintet left the motel early that morning, since Neji was determined to make up for the lost time. The dull, early morning sun shone down as they traveled along the dirt path that cut through the forest that bordered between the town of Hebi and a neighboring town- Kyuusaki. Their feet made a dull cadence on the soft ground as the early morning birds began piping their songs. It was all so peaceful until Sakura felt an uneasy disturbance.

"Someone's here." She froze and the group followed her lead and carefully began peering around.

"Get down!" Everybody immediately heeded Neji's command and dropped to the ground, just as a kunai was hurled towards them. Sakura rolled on the ground and popped back up between Ten Ten and Neji.

"Heh, looks as if we have company." Lee smirked from in front of them.

"All I want is Little Miss Princess here. You four are free to go." Five heads snapped behind them when they heard the malevolent sneer from the deep voice emerging from the shadows of the trees. Instinctively, the Leaf ninja drew their defenses and prepared to protect Ame; who squatted cowering behind Neji.

"Who are you?" Neji demanded. Acquiescing, the man answered with a slight bow.

"I am Fuji Karukise- rogue ninja from the Land of Vines. Judging by your headbands, may I assume that you four are Leaf shinobi?"

"…Yes. That is correct." Lee finally answered for the group. He shot Neji a curious glance about the man, Fuji. He was behaving so calmly and well mannered. However, they could tell that despite his respectfulness, he wasn't a man to be branded as no threat. His tranquil personality was contrasted by a savage appearance. The man's towering six foot four height, thick, fatty muscles, hard, mangled face and heavy lidded, emotionless eyes were all imposing, but failed to rattle the four skilled shinobi. He had a ruddy complexion and short dark hair shaved in a buzz cut. His tight, split lipped mouth once again asked for Ame to be released to him.

Neji blinked, slightly confused by the calm and polite manner the man requested Ame with, but he responded firmly. "Our mission is to take Ame to her father."

Fuji's lips pressed into a straight line. Still calm, he droned out, "I will either leave peacefully with Ame, or your blood will stain the ground that I'll drag her across by her hair."

A whimper escaped Ame's trembling lips as she clutched tighter to Neji's leg. When none of the shinobi showed any sign of giving Ame up, Fuji's brow creased in agitation.

"Then may your blood find harmony with this soil."

Four kunai glimmered as their wielders raised them determinedly.

"Ten Ten. Sakura. Take Ame out of here. Lee and I will be fine." The two girls' eyes shifted towards the hard, smooth voice that spoke out to them. They then nodded and stepped back to get Ame as Neji and Lee covered them.

"Neji, wait!" Lee interjected. "Would it not be smarter to leave Sakura here? She is a formidable kunoichi and a medic nin. If you were to get injured, she should be close at hand."

"No, leave her with Ame. Her safety is more important than mine."

"But Ame's not heading into danger. **You** are." Ten Ten noted. "Lee's right, Sakura needs to stay where the immediate danger is."

Fuji, tiring of their argument, began closing the distance between them. Neji knew there was no time to argue.

"Very well, Ten Ten and Lee, take Ame to safety. Sakura and I will follow once we've taken care of business here."

"Right." Ten Ten nodded as she and Lee hurried off with Ame before any further dispute arose. Fuji glared as the two took off with his target and fixed his eyes on a new destination. Neji quickly stepped in.

Moving closer to Fuji he glowered. "You won't be going anywhere."

Fuji's droopy eyes gazed at Neji and he resigned his plans of following Ame. Before Sakura even took a step forward, the two men were engaged in rapid battle. Sakura decided to watch on closely for the time being, and analyze the attacks and defenses of their opponent.

Neji was using Gentle Fist, but it didn't seem to have any effect. Fuji would simply block Neji's hand with his right arm and counterattack with a dizzyingly quick swing of his fist; which Neji managed to dodge each time. After nearly a minute of no successful attacks on either part, Neji leapt from his opponent; back to where Sakura stood observing.

His eyes were still puffy with chakra as he panted and glared at Fuji. Meanwhile, Sakura took the break to replay the battle again and again in her head. Fuji straightened up and seemed prepared to attack again as Sakura analyzed his habits one more time. A small smile spread across her face as a wave of enlightenment washed over her.

"Neji hold on a sec," Sakura warned when she saw Neji preparing to once again meet with Fuji in battle. Neji shot Sakura a look, but stopped nonetheless. From her pouch, she pulled out six kunai and simultaneously hurled them at the giant. He seemed ready to dodge, but, instead of wasting energy, resolved on simply raising his scarred right arm, protecting himself from the attack.

Neji's eyes instantly widened in comprehension. It was something so obvious, yet in the heat of their fast paced battle, was something he'd overlooked.

The four kunai that made contact had pierced into the immensely stitched skin of Fuji's arm with a distant, barely audible clank and fell dejectedly to the floor. There was no blood, no signs of pain, nothing.

"I understand…" Neji began aloud. Fuji stopped and looked curiously at Neji. "Yet his chakra network is still intact---"

"Barely." Fuji interrupted. "In fact, what's left of it is woven in and out of steel. It was a time consuming, painful process, but the end result is glorious. My entire right arm has no nerves, veins, or living tissues; it's simply skin over steel. Impregnable, indestructible steel. And very soon, my entire body will be like my arm; a built in armor protecting me from any enemy who dares try to stop me.

"And that's why I need Ame. Ever since I was a ninja in our Village Hidden in the Reeds the spoiled brat has been bragging about how wealthy her family is, how much money they have to spare. It's taken forever for my plan to come into effect-Kimahito hardly lets his precious daughter out the house. But the day he let her leave for that ritzy ball all the big shots have for their daughters, is the day he made the biggest mistake of his life."

"And in order to complete your surgery…you need money." Sakura noted with narrowed eyes.

"Precisely, and Kimahito's beloved only child is the perfect prospect for a ransom hostage." Fuji smiled darkly.

"Well, your plans end here." Neji threatened prepared once again for battle. Fuji's loud laugh rumbled through the trees.

"So what's your next attack? That technique you used earlier will have no effect. It cannot pierce through steel!"

"Neji, he's right…" Sakura said in a low voice.

"Yes, but I can use taijutsu ju---"

"Neji, let me handle this." Sakura interrupted, glowering at Fuji.

Neji looked at her for a second and thought. Sakura was indeed a good ninja, but after last mission's upset, he was secretly afraid to bring another bad report to Lady Tsunade. Part of him figured that Sakura was just having a bad day that mission and this time around, her skills as a one of the Leaf's top shinobi would be able to get the job done. The other part feared the outcome would mirror the last one…a disaster. He debated on whether or not to let Sakura go ahead or just tell her to back him up. However, when he gazed into the determined look on her face, he knew that no matter what he said, she was going to fight this man. In defeat, Neji sighed.

"Alright."

Sakura took off for Fuji and the battle began. Neji watched on, completely dumbfounded by Sakura's speed and skills. The two fought hand to hand for what seemed like forever. Fuji managed to leave a bloody bruise on Sakura's left arm and Sakura found herself able to graze her foot across Fuji's face, leaving a searing, burn like cut.

Neji watched on intently, secretly impressed by Sakura's skill, yet hoping she would wrap it up. At the speed and power they both were going at, their stamina was sure to drain soon. If Sakura found herself weary before Fuji did, she could seriously get hurt. Sakura was thinking the same thing.

In an attempt to finish the fight, she dodged a forceful jab from the brute and swung back up with an incredibly fast roundhouse kick, directed for his head. As expected, Fuji blocked Sakura's swift but purposely weak kick with his steel arm then shifted her leg over to his left hand. Just as he was doing that, Sakura swept up from the momentum and with the combination of her inconceivable strength and the momentum at which she was swinging, she bashed her fist into Fuji's steel arm, which he barely lifted in time to protect himself.

And earsplitting crack was heard as skin touched steeled skin. Fuji was knocked away from the force of the blow as he released Sakura with an agonized yell of pain and flew backwards into a tree trunk; causing to tree to split at the base and crash into the ground.

The steel had met its match.

Sakura panted heavily as the massive dust cloud arising from the fallen tree and Fuji's now immobile body blinded both Leaf shinobi. When everything was settled down, Neji ran forward to Sakura, catching her as she dropped to her knees. At first, he was worried, fearing that she'd pushed herself too hard in the battle, but when he looked on her sweat streaked face, he saw a tired, beaming smile a satisfaction. Sakura chuckled slightly and gave Neji a playful wink and surprisingly, the Hyuuga found himself genuinely smiling back. Slowly the two stood up.

"Good job Sakura." Neji complimented, uncomfortably averting his eyes towards his feet. Sakura sensed the uneasiness and smiled and nodded thanks.

"Well I guess we should catch up with Ten Ten and Lee now." Sakura panted slightly.

Neji nodded and as she turned to leave, he gently grabbed her wrist. Sakura froze in shock and felt her face flush deeply.

"You injured your arm. We should take care of that before we leave." Neji observed, focusing on the bleeding cut. Sakura was glad he was too focused on her arm to see how she was nearly faint from his touch. The cut wasn't so terrible that Sakura needed to waste chakra healing it, so Neji used some ointment to clean it and wrapped it tenderly with clean gauze.

Sakura's heart raced within her chest and she felt as if it would swell so greatly that it would suffocate her. Her skin began to get clammy and her face turned deeper and deeper shades of red. When Neji finished and looked at her face, his eyes got troubled.

"Sakura, are you sure you didn't overdo it? You look a bit flushed." Neji inquired as he rose to stand over her. Sakura nodded reassuringly, standing up as well to affirm it. Her blushed only deepened as his beautiful pearl eyes locked with hers, but luckily he didn't press it any further and, with the help of Neji's Byakugan, the two sought out Ten Ten and Lee.

It was obvious to Sakura that Neji was purposely going slow since he was still unconvinced about her condition. She wanted to speed in front of him so he'd realize that he was overreacting, but without Byakugan, she'd be searching blindly through the dense and dangerous forest.

Besides, secretly she was touched that Neji was seemingly so concerned about her well being.

In about three minutes, Sakura and Neji found the rest of their party, resting at the base of a large evergreen. When they appeared in front of their resting counterparts, Ame popped up and wrapped her arms around Neji's neck.

"Oh I knew you'd be back for me!" she buried her face in the crook of his neck and cried. Neji stiffly patted her back for a moment before prying her off.

"Alright, let's continue on. We wasted a lot of time on that battle." Neji instructed.

"You guys don't wanna rest a minute?" Ten Ten asked cautiously. "I know you both have got to be beat."

Neji shrugged. "Sakura if you want to rest for a moment---"

"I'm fine." She assured them all quickly. Neji eyed her intensely like he had earlier but only nodded.

"Alright, let's go."

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**See I told you guys, I am NOT a fan of the pre-chuunin exams, weak, whiny Sakura. In fact, in the beginning of the season, I disliked Sakura as much as I do Ino. =P **

**But nonetheless, that instance before was the one (and quite possibly) the ONLY time that you will see me portray Sakura like that! I'm as equally annoyed with the irritating and worthless Sakura as you all are! . **

**Please, please, please R&R!**

**See ya soon! xoxoxoxoxo**


	8. On the Final Day of Hyuuga

**Boo!!!**

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**Disclaimer: I SAID I DO NOT OWN NARUTO!!!!!**

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"She's been in there for nearly half an hour!" Sakura scoffed in exasperation when Ten Ten, jaw clenched tightly, walked out of the bathroom alone.

"Tell me about it. And worst off, she hasn't even done anything but cry and whine the entire time!" Ten Ten slammed the door of the bathroom behind her and sat angrily by the door.

After resting that night at an inn in Kyuusaki, the group was finally at the end of the small towns that separated them from their destination. They were only a less than an hour away from the Land of Vines and only a couple of hours away from Ame's village.

Neji told the group that they were going straight to the village; no pit stops, no distractions, nothing. He especially emphasized this to Ame who nodded concurrently with his words. Yet, now after traveling through the heart of the town where all the clean, sanitary bathrooms could be found, Ame suddenly had the need to go and the only available location was less than glamorous multi-stalled wooden restroom near an isolated thrift shop.

The restroom wasn't revolting; it was clean and appropriately stocked. The only downfall was the few bugs that found their way out of the forest and inside the stalls and the very faint smell of stale urine.

Ame's "emergency" came right as the group approached the shop. After a pretentious show from Ame about being "too good" to use the restroom, Lee went inside the shop to ask the middle aged woman if there were any other restrooms nearby. The lady, looking slightly offended, told them that as far as she knew the bathroom outside was the only restroom until you entered a few miles into the Land of Vines.

After whining that she wouldn't be able to make it that far, Ame condescended and Ten Ten escorted her into the restroom. Ame took ten minutes to finally go in one of the stalls, stood in the stall with the door open for about five minutes, and now after Ten Ten slammed her stall door shut, Ame stood in the bathroom, sobbing instead of urinating.

"I'm gonna go check on Lee." Ten Ten sighed as she stood up and walked inside the thrift store where Lee was. It was quiet for a moment and Sakura sighed heavily, and then smiled when she thought of an idea.

"Hey," Sakura joked to Neji as they impatiently waited for Ame to come out. "Whaddya say we ditch her here? Let her proper little ass find her own way home."

Neji, either not catching Sakura's humor or not finding it funny, looked down at Sakura with narrow, disapproving eyes.

"You know very well that abandoning a mission is **not** the way of the Leaf shinobi. I had expected better from you Sakura."

Sakura's mouth fell open slightly. _"Great. I climb up two steps only to fall back ten."_ She groaned in thought. Ten Ten and Lee came strolling from the store, fingers laced and hands swinging gaily.

As they approached the two a toilet flushed and the restroom door opened and Ame ran out, eyes glassy.

"I **never** want to do that again." She cried and buried her face in Neji's chest. Neji's face squinted slightly in displeasured annoyance as he led Ame away. Ten Ten and Lee lead the way down the path and Sakura picked up the rear, her head hanging slightly.

After a few steps, Neji looked over Ame's head back at Sakura. A playful smile tugged slightly at his lips as he discreetly looked down at the sobbing female and jerked his head towards the desolate, dark woods.

A slow, wide smile spread across Sakura's face as she realized that Neji had been joking before. She rolled her eyes at his proposed 'plan' and followed behind the two; merrily laughing to herself.

* * *

Ame arrived home just after noon with no further problems. Lord Kimahito was ecstatic to see his daughter home safely. He offered to allow the shinobi to rest at their large home, but when Ame introduced Neji to her father and alluded that she had no intentions of releasing him easily- saying that his "absolutely positively should stay as long as he wants"- the four took that as a sign not to hang around. They declined politely and made a quick exit out of the great house.

* * *

The journey back to the Leaf went much quicker and smoother without Ame. The four, deciding not to rest for anything more than a few minutes, made it back home early the next morning. They were dirty and completely exhausted, but immensely relieved that neither of them would have to see Ame again.

After going their separate ways, Neji headed to the Hokage's tower to file a mission report. Thankfully, the groggy Hokage told him that he could go home and rest; he could file the report whenever he woke later that day. Neji didn't argue and gratefully made his way home to his soft bed.

Before collapsing, Neji took a quick shower, washing the grime and floral scent of Ame's perfume off of him. As he washed, he thought about the mission and despite what a pain it was, how surprisingly well it went. And even more surprisingly, he had Sakura to thank for that.

Not only had she defeated Fuji in an amazing display of power, but she catered to Ame when everyone else was fed up with her- even if it was blindly obvious how irritating she found her.

Neji thought about the way Sakura could be delicate and gentle, like the way she healed and cared for the sick and injured within the village and out on missions alike, and how she could suddenly be deadly and powerful-like how she pounded Fuji into a emasculating and life ending defeat.

He realized now that the more he watched her…the more interesting she became to him. Sakura was…indescribable.

Neji sucked his teeth and turned the water off as he stepped from the shower. What was he thinking? _Sakura?_ She was but a teammate. An impressively skilled, physically stunning teammate with a beautiful personality.

But that was all. Right?…

"Is that really all?..." Neji couldn't help but wonder aloud, because if what he was forcing himself to believe was true, then Sakura wouldn't be filling every crevice of his mind right now. He blamed it on sexual arousal: convincing himself that his only attraction to Sakura- **if** there even was one- would be that of lust. Pure, simple lust. Looking down at his half naked body, he could see that thinking of Sakura was indeed sparking lustful desire within him, but he collapsed heavily on the bed when he realized that wasn't his only attraction to her.

"I can't like Sakura." The pale skinned beauty shook his long brown hair at the thought. "We're… too different…"

Yet all night long, Neji struggled with his conflicting feelings towards the rosette. His dreams spiraled around the two of them locked together in a passionate kiss or their naked bodies shimmering with sweat as he pumped in and out her soaking core or simply holding her in his arms as they lay on their backs and watched the stars twinkle in the sky. Every minute-every **second**- of his dreams were filled with the emerald eyed, brightly smiling beauty.

When he woke up mid afternoon, exhausted from the sleep, he knew the answer to his burning question. Whether he liked it or not, Neji Hyuuga was madly and inescapably attracted to Sakura Haruno.

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**Hmmm…I feel a lemon coming on, but for now, that's all. XD**

**Remember, R&R please!!!**

**See ya soon! xoxoxoxoxo**


	9. So It Begins

**Another break. Me be sorry. So here's the next chapter. Not much to say but I thanks kindly you all for the reviews!!!**

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**Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto. Big duh.**

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A couple of days after they had returned from their mission, Ten Ten arrived early that morning, banging on Sakura's front door. She had decided that she and Sakura should seek Hinata's help- after all, Neji **was** her cousin.

After Sakura got dressed, they headed over to Hinata's apartment. Hinata was already up and welcomed them warmly. The three girls sat in the front room and chit chatted for awhile until Ten Ten brought up the reason they had come.

"Hinata…" Ten Ten began, looking into the shy girl's pale eyes and adding a sense of urgency to her voice, "we need your help. You see, Sakura's got herself a new little interest and I think out of everybody I know, you'll probably be able to help us the most."

"O-okay." Hinata nodded in confusion. She looked back and forth between the two girls- one beaming with eagerness, the other slightly wincing in nervousness. Ten Ten jerked her head to signal to Sakura to tell Hinata what was up.

Sakura let out a heavy exhale and quickly looked Hinata in the eyes before adverting her gaze and barely mumbling, "It's Neji."

Hinata smiled and laughed lightly. "Really? You two'd probably make a good couple!"

Sakura blushed and fought back a smile as Ten Ten went on. "Hinata, even though I'm Neji's teammate I'm pretty much worthless in this case. And Sakura doesn't much about him girl-wise herself. We were hoping that maybe you could help us out a little. I'm pretty sure Neji doesn't pull you aside and talk about girls with you, but after growing up so close to him way longer than any of us then you might give something to work off of.

Hinata nodded slowly, deep in thought. The room was silent for awhile as the two guests allowed Hinata to concentrate. Finally, Hinata's now stilled head began to swing slowly and disappointedly from side to side. She pouted slightly and let out a large huff that blew her bangs off her forehead.

"Sorry guys, I guess I'm no good here either."

Sakura's shoulders dropped. "It's alright Hinata; you tried."

"I'm sorry I can't be of more help to you than that. If you want I could ask him, after all, I owe you." Hinata was referring to how Sakura had helped hook her up with her long time crush: Naruto. The two of them had only been going together for about four months, but Hinata had never been happier. She kept telling Sakura that she'd make it up to her somehow.

Sakura shook her head 'no' and fell back into the couch. A gray cloud hung over the girls as they pondered their next move.

"You think he's gay?" Ten Ten suddenly wondered aloud and Sakura slapped her arm. "I was just saying!" She objected, rubbing her stinging arm.

The three spent nearly three minutes in silence; thinking of what they should do next. Once again, Ten Ten had something to say. Her large brown eyes glowed and she eagerly jumped up. "Well, since we're in the dark here, I say we just wing it!"

"Wing it how?" Sakura asked nervously.

"Simple: a makeover. Sakura, we'll make you so irresistible that not even **the** Neji Hyuuga will be able resist you!"

A slow smile spread across Sakura and Hinata's lips as they exchanged agreeing glances.

"Perfect!" Sakura exclaimed as she and Hinata high fived.

"Well ladies, let's get started."

Sakura, Ten Ten, and Hinata met up at Sakura's around six that evening. The entire group was planning on meeting up at the local tavern that night around eight. The girls figured that tonight would be the perfect time to put their newly developed plan into action. Hinata arrived first, already dressed in tight black capris and a lavender tunic. Ten Ten arrived less than two minutes later wearing a flowing, pale green sun dress and her hair in its usual up-do. Each girl carried a small decorated pouch in their hand.

The three filed into Sakura's bedroom and dumped the contents of the pouches out on Sakura's bed. It was makeup. None of the girls were big fans of the products, but they figured that if the three of them pooled together what they did have, then it would be enough.

In seconds, the room was buzzing with excitement. They went to Sakura's closet first, pulling out this and that. Sakura tried on all the outfits until her two friends jumped up in exclamation upon seeing the perfect one; even modest Hinata found the outfit to be perfect for the occasion. Sakura was less than thrilled though.

She felt naked: dressed in a tight, red spaghetti strap top that clung to her waist and showed just a little of the midriff between beneath her belly button and the hem of her soft, puffy curls. However, the shirt didn't bother Sakura, it was the skirt.

Ten Ten refused to let Sakura out of the house unless she was in the tight, black miniskirtshe was currently wearing. Ten Ten said it was because Sakura should show off her nice, slender legs, but Sakura felt it wasn't only her legs that skirt was showing off. The skirt, which Sakura had pulled down as much as possible, only came to just above her mid thigh. Ten Ten managed to find an even shorter one that Ino had given to Sakura, but Sakura refused to wear it.

Initially, Ten Ten wanted Sakura in red, open toe stilettos, but Sakura vehemently refused- saying either the red shoes were gone, or the miniskirt. In the end, they compromised on a pretty pair of open toe, black, string up pumps- the heels just a little bit shorter and thicker than those of the red ones.

With wardrobe out of the way, Hinata took charge of Sakura's nails and makeup. Sakura opted for a clean coat of clear polish, which would give her nails a healthy, maintained appearance while at the same time not appearing too over the top in Sakura's eyes. But Ten Ten wasn't having it.

Sakura's toes and- much to her displeasure- her fingernails were painted a bright, shiny, fiery red that matched Sakura's top almost perfectly. A plain and simple girl, Hinata didn't do as much with her makeup. This really wasn't problem with neither Sakura nor Ten Ten, seeing how none of the females were so big on much of anything but lip gloss. They all preferred the natural, healthy look as opposed to the makeup caked vixen. So Hinata went on to stain Sakura's lips a rosy color before going over them with a shiny, fruity smelling lip gloss-which Sakura put in her small, black purse so she could take it with her.

Meanwhile, Ten Ten had styled Sakura's hair, pinning the pink, just-above-the-shoulder length locks up in a messy yet sophisticated bun. A short strip of hair that kept sliding out of place was left dangling playfully over her right eye, ready to be tucked behind her ear if necessary.

When done, the two dark haired girls stepped back to admire their work. Obviously pleased, Ten Ten pulled Sakura in front of a mirror.

"You…look…**hot**!" she grinned as Hinata came up beside them. She handed Sakura a black knit sweater. It was tight and came only a few centimeters past her tank top beneath. As Sakura slid it on, Ten Ten's smile dropped and her brows furrowed.

"Hold on, you need more red!" Ten Ten's reflection vanished from the mirror only to return momentarily with a thick, red headband, which she plopped on top of Sakura's head, a red beaded necklace which she draped over Sakura's neck, and three, skinny red bracelets which she slid on Sakura's arm.

"Alright Sakura," Ten Ten smirked mischievously, "let's get ready to melt some hearts!"

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**R&R please!!!**

**See ya soon! xoxoxoxoxo**


	10. You Do Not Say!

**Quicker updates as you can see. I don't have much to say I don't think, exceeeeeept for a big fat thank you to my reviewers!!!!!**

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**Disclaimer: Don't own Naruto. **

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Just about everyone was at the tavern when Sakura, Hinata, and Ten Ten arrived.

Kiba whistled sharply as Sakura approached. "Someone took their time to get ready tonight."

Sakura smiled and fought a blush as she spotted an open seat between Kiba, who was talking with Genma to his right, and Ino who was flirting with some random guy to her left. Hinata slid into the booth next to Naruto and blushed profoundly as he kissed her cheek.

A couple of men in the tavern ogled with mouths slightly agape at Sakura. She saw their looks, but ignored them. In all actuality, the attention was making her uncomfortable. Thanks to her outfit, she already felt half naked. Ten Ten went to a wall booth that most of the group was seated in and laughed and talked with them. Sakura walked towards the open seat and sat down anxiously.

"Well, you clean up decently." Ino smirked, eyeing Sakura who was somewhat nervously spinning her bracelets around her wrist. Ino took a sip from her drink.

"Shut up." Sakura scoffed back, trying not to be obvious as she glanced around for Neji. Ino noticed.

"Looking for someone?" she laughed lowly in a singsong voice.

"Yeah, the pound so they can put you back in your cage where you belong."

"Sss, good one." Genma hissed and Kiba laughed as he picked up his drink and the two left the jesting girls and went to the table where Naruto was brazenly trying to find people to engage in a drinking contest. Once he had his challengers together- Choji, Genma, and Kiba- the competition began and they called the waiter over to order four pitchers of sake.

Ten Ten and Hinata conversed quietly within the uproar and excitedly waited for Neji. Lee, who with Sakura's permission was informed of the girls' plan, was expected to arrive with Neji in about five minutes.

The bar was filled with loud roars of laughter and voices that were starting to slur with each shot. The other abstemious men, Sasuke, Shikamaru, Shino, and Kakashi, looked on in degrees of slight amusement and strong indifference. Sakura rolled her eyes at the spectacle of men before her and laughed quietly as she picked up her drink and brought it to her rouged lips.

Before she took any more than just a sip, Ino nudged her side with her elbow and jerked her head to the door. "There he is."

Sakura's heart swelled within her chest as she saw Neji and Lee nonchalantly enter the pub. Neji was wearing a loose, black v-neck shirt that gave viewers just a little peak at his well defined, pale chest. He, of course, was wearing his leaf headband that pulled his healthy, freely flowing brown hair from his face. Sakura bit her bottom lip to keep her mouth closed and just shrugged at Ino with a furrowed face- all the while her eyes locked on Neji.

"Who Lee?"

Ino laughed. "Yeah right, Sakura, I know you better than that. You got all dolled up for Neji tonight, didn't you?...I told you I'd find out."

Sakura sighed and finally nodded her head and turned her eyes towards Ino, pleading for her to be quiet as the two men approached.

"Relax Sakura," Ino whispered back with a wink. "I won't tell a soul, I'm just mad you didn't tell me about this."

"It took a while for me to accept it myself…Now shut it!" Sakura hissed as the men finally reached them. Ten Ten, upon seeing Lee, rushed from the table and threw her arms around his waist.

"I thought you weren't coming tonight!" Ten Ten lied with convincing exclamation. Meanwhile, Ino silently slipped away with her drink in hand as she purposefully dissolved the only barrier between Sakura and Neji.

"Well I was not, but Neji and I…Sakura? Wow, it is good to see you; you look nice." Ten Ten had instructed Lee that his job was to get Neji's attention on Sakura and, with her help, keep it there.

"Thanks Lee. Good to see you too." Sakura nodded politely. It was quiet for a second and Ten Ten spoke up.

"Neji, I didn't see you for a second. Hey."

"Hello Ten Ten. Sakura." Sakura was surprised that Neji had spoken to her, but she managed a small smile back.

"Neji, why don't you have a seat over there?" Ten Ten offered as she pointed to the empty seat where Kiba had sat. She sat in the seat Ino had left from and casually pulled Lee into the seat beside her, now that the man had left. The only remaining seats at the bar were Kiba's old seat, Genma's old rickety seat next to Kiba's, and one empty stool four places down from Lee, on each side of which sat two salivating, obnoxiously loud drunks. Sakura surveyed his other options and prayed he'd choose the stool next to her, which, thankfully, he did.

"Why don't we order some drinks?" Ten Ten proposed, 'forgetting' that neither Lee nor Neji drunk. She slapped her fingers over her mouth quickly and laughed sheepishly. "My bad…hey! Why don't we go somewhere else instead? Ichiraku's?"

Sakura's eyes widened. Nowhere in their plan did they say anything about going someplace else. Sakura didn't want to go someplace where there were a lot less people, meaning a lot more focus that could be directed to her. Lee agreed immediately and reluctantly, so did Sakura. Neji, however, declined.

"So what you want to stay here and watch…**that**?" Ten Ten asked as she pointed her finger to the table where the four drunken men slurred out half finished sentences as they tried to down yet another cup. Neji sighed and eventually agreed to go with them.

* * *

At Ichiraku's, Ten Ten and Lee did most of the talking. Sakura would join in and every now and then and rarely, Neji would say a few words.

The dating couple would try to bring up conversation starters between Neji and Sakura by saying things such as, "Sakura, I'm surprised you're with us tonight and not somewhere out in the forest star gazing. You do that a lot don't you?"

And Lee would respond by saying, "You do not say! Neji, do you not go out into the forest most nights like Sakura?"

But everything would be ruined when Neji, tone impassive, would respond curtly with mood killing things like, "I go there to train, not stargaze."

A few times, Lee and Ten Ten did manage to get somewhat of a conversation going:

"Sakura, your birthday's coming up next month right?" Ten Ten asked, looking at Neji and not Sakura.

"Yeah, it is." Sakura nodded back.

"You do not say!" Lee exclaimed for probably the thirtieth time that night. "Neji, is your birthday not in March as well?"

"No." Neji responded, sipping his drink.

"Oh yeah, it's in July. But the both of you have birthdays in the spring. Right?" Ten Ten tried.

"July is in the summer." Neji responded again, his voice still flat.

"Of course…" Lee laughed rubbing the back of his neck. "Well…do you two both not celebrate your birthday in the first half of the year? That is close enough, right?"

But, once again, the conversation ended when Neji, not trying to be cold or antisocial, said to Lee that July, being the seventh month of the year, was in the second half, not the first. Lee gave up trying.

A few seconds of silence followed before Sakura, deciding to be brave, tried to start the conversation up again.

"Your birthday's in July, right? What date?" She asked Neji quietly and bashfully; much like Hinata used to behave around Naruto.

"The third." Neji said shortly. Silence. "…What day of March is yours?"

"Oh, the twenty eighth." Sakura nodded with a small smile.

"Oh," was all Neji said.

"Yeah." Sakura drawled back.

"Excuse me?"

"Oh, nothing."

"Oh."

"Yeah." Sakura sighed again. And that was the end of their conversation.

A few minutes later, Sakura just gave up on the plan poked Ten Ten's leg under the table; letting her know she was ready to go. At first Ten Ten ignored her, but after much persistence and sharp nails, Ten Ten sighed and slid from her stool.

"Well, I guess we should be going now." She groaned as she stretched her arms above her head.

The quartet paid and left the stand to converse in the dark street outside.

"Well that was fun. We should do it again sometime." Lee offered and Ten Ten agreed. Sakura nodded with a weak smile and Neji, unsurprisingly, said nothing.

"Okay, so I'll see you all later. Bye Ten Ten. Bye Lee. Bye Neji." Sakura waved goodbye as she turned, unaccompanied, to walk home.

"Sakura, you're walking home alone?" Ten Ten called behind her. Sakura turned, shrugging her shoulders and nodding.

"Yeah, why?"

"Well because it's dark out, you don't need to be walking around here alone."

"Ten Ten—"

"Sakura," Ten Ten interrupted sternly, "It's late- you don't need to be out here alone."

"There's not much I can do about that Ten Ten. Besides, I'll be fine." Sakura began backpedaling away, but Ten Ten's next sentence temporarily froze her still.

"Neji walk her home!" She heard Ten Ten hiss to Neji.

She scowled and turning around tried to walk faster, but Neji's deep voice stopped her in her tracks.

"Sakura, wait, I'll walk with you."

Sakura whirled around and fought a blush. "N-no Neji, it's fine! I'll be alright."

"No, Ten Ten's right." Neji answered as he walked to her. "You don't need to be walking alone during the night."

Sakura was about to object but nodded. "Alright… thanks."

"Oh, and take a look at her sink too!" Ten Ten called just as the two began walking off.

"What?" Neji's eyes narrowed in confusion and Sakura's widened in horror.

"It keeps getting clogged." Ten Ten explained. "She was saying she didn't know whether or not to pay a professional to do it or if she could do it herself. We need a man's opinion. Bye!" Ten Ten waved as she and Lee jogged off and Sakura, with Neji beside her, silently walked through the village streets and to her apartment.

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**Let us see what goes on inside the home shall we? We shall! But only if you all review m'kay? M'kay! hehe**

**R&R please!!!**

**See ya soon! xoxoxoxoxo**


	11. Nice Pipes

**Okay, so here's the deal: when I first started writing this story, I planned on making it lemon-less. Then a few chapters in, I was like… "Hmm, I may add a lemon or two." Then in the next chapter, I was like. "Nah…no lemons." Then I straddled the fence some and now I have reached a decision:**

**For my lemon lovers: Here it is, your lemon!**

**For my lemon haters: Yes, this chapter contains a lemon, but it's labeled and it'll be the only one.**

**And also, I wasn't sure where **_**exactly**_** to put the warning. You know whether before any physical contact whatsoever takes place, or just before the explicit stuff. So I went with the first one just to be safe. The lemon ends at the subsequent line break.**

**But anyhoo, the thing about the lemons, well that's my verdict…for now! ^.^ Unless I get an overwhelming request for more lemons then this should be it, so enjoy (or not) this story's first and only lemon (or not)!**

**And further more: THANK YOU ALL MY LOVERLY REVIEWERERS!!!!**

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**Disclaimer: You can't see my face right now, or ever, but do I look like I own Naruto? Seriously!**

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When they got to Sakura's door, she stopped and smiled shyly up at Neji. "Thanks again for walking me home. I really do appreciate it."

Neji shook his head. "It was no trouble."

"So I guess I'll see you around the village?" Sakura asked hopefully as she unlocked her door and cracked it open.

"You don't want me to look at your sink?" Neji asked in confusion. Sakura laughed nervously.

"You already walked me home, I-I don't wanna bother you asking you to look at my plumbing. It's fine."

"I don't mind." Neji responded in a voice that made Sakura's heart skip a beat. It wasn't so much what he said, but how he said it; in sincere, tender emotion used for the first time that night, and the first time in the entire time Sakura could remember him speaking.

She opened the door and turned on the light, letting Neji in. Sakura was glad that the girls had found time to clean up behind themselves before heading out because the last thing she wanted was for Neji to think she was sloppy.

Closing and locking the door behind them, she led him to the kitchen.

"There it is," she sighed, dropping her keys on the table and sitting cross-legged on the chair. Neji walked to the sink and asked permission to open the cabinet underneath, in order to see the pipes. Sakura nodded, pulling her head band off and setting it beside her keys on the table. Neji crouched down and opened the wooded doors. His chakra gathered around his eyes as he used the Byakugan.

He looked inside the plumbing and was about to tell Sakura the problem but became distracted. By using his Byakugan, Neji could see Sakura behind him, her hair, now loose as she slowly and tiredly ran her fingers through the now wavy locks. She had removed her sweater, revealing the skin tight shirt beneath. Neji inadvertently licked his lips and Sakura began absently rubbing her bare legs. Neji kept watching and his arousal silently grew as he spotted the desiring way she looked at him when she thought he couldn't see her.

Suddenly, her eyes grew wide- for, unbeknownst to Neji, Sakura was ironically worried whether or not the Hyuuga was using his Byakugan and therefore able to see her surreptitiously lusting for him.

Neji, fearing that Sakura **had** discovered he was looking at her, dismissed his Byakugan and cleared his throat before turning around to face Sakura, who sat flushed on the chair.

"It seems that you do have a clog; ramen noodles."

Sakura's face grew brighter with anger as she growled, "Naruto!"

Neji couldn't help cock a brow in curiosity and Sakura went on to explain. "That little idiot comes over here and tries to eat me outta house and home. Then, like he thinks I have a damn garbage disposal, he dumps his shit down my sink! Since when did he ever throw away food anyway, especially ramen! And it's caught right up in the s-bend too isn't it?..."

Sakura continued going on and on, but Neji wasn't really listening to Sakura's tirade more than looking at her body. Her face was flushed and angry, but still beautiful as she scolded the absent blonde. Her hair was tousled and constantly slipping in her face, only to be angrily pushed away. Her small, desirable breasts bounced within her shirt above her slim, slightly muscular stomach.

'_She must train harder than I thought.'_ Neji noted lasciviously, surprised to see what seemed to be a four pack forming beneath her skin.

Her breasts continued bouncing tauntingly up and down as her arms went this way and that; slapping the air and her thighs. Her slaps brought Neji's attention to her waist; full hipped, round butted. Her shapely thighs clung beneath the tight black skirt she wore and her long, strong legs flexed as she paced back and forth in front of the table, still wearing her heels. He wanted to jump from his spot on the floor and push her back on that table so he could just---

"So what do you think Neji? Is it gonna cost a lot to unclog it?" Sakura sighed, plopping down on the chair and resting her chin heavily in her hand. Neji was shaken from his fantasizing and shook his head.

"No. I can take care of it for you for free." Neji crouched back beneath the sink and undid a pipe. "Do you have a trash bag?" Sakura nodded as she got up to get a trash bag for Neji.

"Hold the bag like this and stand right here." Neji instructed Sakura as he put her in position. She remained still and held the bag like Neji had told her to. In less than a second, the clog came shooting from the pipe and into the bag as Neji used Gentle Fist to send his chakra down the drain and forced the congestion out.

Sakura's eyes were wide as she smiled widely. "You got it out! Oh my gosh, thank you so much Neji!"

Neji reattached the pipe as he nodded. Sakura twisted the bag up and threw it in the trash can as Neji washed his hands in the freely flowing sink. When they were both done, Sakura surprised them both when she flew into Neji's chest and threw her arms around his neck. When her brain caught up with her actions, she slowly pulled away, blushing.

"Thanks for that; you probably saved me a fortune."

Neji shook his head. "It was no problem Sakura, I told you that."

"Can I offer you a drink? Water, juice, soda?" Sakura asked suddenly, refusing to let their next word be goodbye. Neji was hesitant at first, but eventually nodded.

"Yes, thank you. Water will be fine." Sakura fixed two glasses of water and set them on the table for each of them.

"Have a seat." She motioned to Neji who accepted. "That was smart of you- to use Gentle Fist I mean. I was so pissed off with Naruto I wasn't even trying think of solutions. You saved my butt and my wallet."

"I told you it was nothing. It's the least I can do."

Sakura smiled and sipped her water, then sighed, taking off her shoes. "My gosh, these shoes are killing me!"

"I'm not surprised."

Sakura quirked a brow at Neji and asked defensively, "What's that supposed to mean?"

Neji shrugged, unfazed and just answered. "You're not usually a dress up kind of person- and, being at the hospital all day, I know you don't wear shoes with such high heels. It's only natural your feet hurt."

Sakura stared at Neji for awhile. "I don't know whether to take that as a compliment or an insult, so I'll let that slide."

Neji just raised his eyes amused and said nothing. For about two minutes neither body in the kitchen said anything until Sakura sighed.

"You know Neji…I'm actually glad you walked me home." Sakura admitted nervously. Neji was surprised and Sakura, looking down at her water, went on. "You were right when you said I usually don't dress up, but I did tonight because…well, I did it to get your attention."

Neji silently set his cup down, amazed by Sakura's bold confession.

"I…I don't know how that worked out or if I should even tell you this…I probably sound like and idiot, but…" Sakura drifted off and spun her cup between her hands. Neji wanted to say something, but he didn't know what, so the two stared in the clear water inside their cups as if it held all the answers.

Neji downed his water and set the empty cup on the table with a soft, hollow thud. Sakura stood from her chair and reached for the cup in his hands, stopping at face level and looking him directly in his off-white eyes.

"So did I get your attention at least?" she asked softly as she gently took the cup from him. She didn't wait for his answer. It was rhetorical plus, she was afraid of the answer. She stood and walked to the sink, setting both their cups down inside it. She paused at the sink, resting on it and taking a deep breath, in hopes of calming her nerves.

Behind her at the table, Neji's legs had sent an irrepressible feeling throughout his body, forcing him to stand up. The feeling then forced him to take a step towards the nervous, pink haired beauty. He took another step, then another, then another. He was fighting within himself not to take the next step when Sakura turned around. Neji froze, his leg now refusing to budge and Sakura froze as well, surprised to see Neji so close to her. It was tensely quiet for a while until Neji spoke softly.

"…Yes, Sakura. You did catch my attention….You caught my attention even before tonight."

Sakura let out a shaky exhale and a very slight smile tugged at the corners of her mouth. Neji couldn't stop his eyes from hungrily scanning over her body until they finally reached the emerald orbs. The two looked at each other, lust brewing within each of their eyes.

"Neji…" Sakura whispered taking a small step forward and almost touching their bodies. Neji responded by pulling her into him and closing the distance between their lips.

**!!!LEMON-LEMON-LEMON!!!**

Sakura's eyes widened in shock, then quickly fell closed as Neji gently worked his soft lips over hers. Seconds later, they slowly pulled away; mouths parted slightly, breathing their breath onto one another and gazing deep into the others' eyes.

Neji's body tensed as he used all his discipline to end it like that, but when Sakura inadvertently let her gaze drop from Neji's eyes and down to his lips, and upon seeing them, slowly drew her bottom lip into her mouth, Neji cracked.

He pulled Sakura into him, covering her mouth with a much more passion and ferocity than before. Soft brown hair was clenched within soft pale hands as Neji began walking forward, backing the heated female towards the table. When they reached the wooden object, Neji carefully leaned forward, pushing her body back onto it.

Without breaking the kiss, Sakura's legs straddled Neji's body standing over her. She wrapped her legs around his torso as he pressed his body tight to hers, allowing her to feel his arousal. His hands slid down her bare arms, rubbing up and down them a few times before caressing her shoulder and slipping the strap down.

His other hand began playing with the hem of the tank top, which was now serving as nothing more that a bothersome barrier. Sakura arched her back up into Neji's strong chest, giving him the go ahead to remove the top. He didn't hesitate and slipped his hand under the material and moved it upwards, while allowing his palm to run across the now exposed skin.

The shirt was thrown to the floor and Neji's mouth covered Sakura's neck. He gently sucked on the fresh, pale skin of her neck before moving up to her earlobes, skillfully and orally playing with it despite the earrings that kept getting in the way.

As Neji's body pressed firmer to Sakura's she was overcome with lust.

"Neji…Neji, let's…go in the bedroom." Sakura said determinedly. "I don't think this table will hold us."

"Huh?" Neji asked confused. She couldn't be insinuating that...

"Neji..." she whispered placing her fingers beneath his chin and turning his head so that she could whisper desiring into his ear, "I want you."

A sly smile invaded the lips of the young Hyuuga as let Sakura's words sink in, and, with a flourishing sweep, he lifted the lustful shinobi from the table and carried her through the small apartment to the only bedroom in there; hers.

Neji was once again kissing the skin of Sakura's neck and collarbone, so when they got in the hallway, Sakura had to spread her arms to touch the walls of the narrow hall as she helped lead Neji to the bedroom.

Once they'd finally gotten inside of the room. Neji was engaging Sakura in a deep, passionate kiss. He effortlessly carried her over to the bed in the middle of the room, dropped her there, and broke their kiss for a second to allow himself to mount her.

The kissing began again, deeper, more sensual. The way Sakura was moaning and arching her body into him made Neji want to skip the foreplay and get straight to the sex, but he wasn't sure if Sakura was a virgin or not. And if she was- which initially he'd assumed she was, but now, after seeing her in her lustful state, he was beginning to have a change on mind- he wanted her first time to be as gentle as possible. A memorable moment.

Either way, whether she was untouched or not, he really didn't want to rush her, but his hormones seemed to have other plans. He knew he had to fight it though. He owed it to Sakura.

Neji felt Sakura take off his shirt and he hastily aided her. Neji then kissed her neck and ear, making her want him even more. Then he moved to her jaw as he unhooked her bra strap. Pulling her bra off, he made his way down to her soft, luscious breasts with deep kisses. He began sucking on her right breast while deeply touching her left. Neji covered her aroused nipple with his wet mouth and swirled his tongue around the tender area. Sakura shuddered because the feeling was so good. She tried to wrap her legs around Neji, but he lifted up.

The young man proceeded to take his left hand and trail it down her stomach to the top of her skirt. He attempted to unfasten it, but the zipper was stuck and tight at the waist and the it wouldn't budge. This frustrated Neji, even though it was bunched up into nothing more than a thin line of clothing between her waist and vagina, because it was an obstruction that nonetheless needed to be removed.

"Rip...it...off!" Sakura said between deep breaths.

Obediently, Neji pulled out a kunai from his pant's pocket and in one quick, clean movement, the skirt was cut down the side. He finished off that same movement by throwing the kunai into the far wall, without even looking.

He lowered his head and began kissing Sakura's lower stomach. Sakura felt her whole body ready to explode with lust. Delicately, Neji shifted the top of her underwear between his teeth using his mouth. He slowly pulled them down, and off of Sakura making her shiver and moan with anticipation.

Her lust filled eyes mixed with nervous eagerness as he then moved his head back up and kissed the inside of her thighs. Neji now smelled her. Craved her.

But before he could satiate himself, Sakura gently, and reluctantly, touched the top of his head and attempted to reach near his neck to pull him up. He moved up some, thinking she was having second thoughts, and she was able to guide his head and with that, his body.

She grasped his hand and pulled his entire body up on her waist, where he still straddled her body. She unzipped his pants, and, as she had done with her shirt earlier, he helped her to pull them off. Then, she reached for the top of his boxers; her hand running along the front of his waist.

She locked eyes with Neji and pulled them down, keeping her hands on his skin as she ran them down his sculpted thighs at the same time. When they were finally off, Sakura found herself inadvertently marveling at Neji's sizable member. Neji smiled and let out a laugh inside his head. Nothing malicious or taunting, but just a laugh. Despite any of her actions- past, present, or future- the nervousness that now blanketed her eyes said it all: Sakura was indeed a virgin.

Neji altered course and instead of going ahead and filling her, he leaned forward and kissed Sakura lightly on the lips, and with that same kind of kiss, he once again made his way down her body. He moved back up to the underside of her breasts and her upper and middle stomach and let his kisses fall there.

Then, with his left hand, he took a finger trailed it down her body, barely touching the skin. When he got to his target, he playfully began rubbing her clit causing her to moan brokenly with excitement. He continued with the clitoral arousal for a bit longer before drifting backwards and gently tracing her slit with his fingertip. Giving her stomach another gentle kiss, he slowly plunged it in, right down to the knuckle.

Quietly, Sakura winced, and there was no doubt in his mind that Sakura was even more pure than he'd originally assumed.

"_I may have to be more careful than I thought." _The Hyuuga thought to himself as he smiled into her skin.

He began pumping the one finger in and out her already lubricated core. Eventually, he was able to fit two fingers in the tight walls, then three. Her hips pumped against him harder and faster and with a strangled sounding moan, she climaxed. Neji kissed her for a while, fingers still intact and then, continued pumping. He was prepared to curl the upwards, activating her g-spot, but Sakura stopped him.

"I want **you** Neji." she said determinedly. His fingers remained still within her for awhile as Neji stared back at Sakura, scrutinizing her face. He could tell she wasn't about to back down, no matter how much pain was involved. Her eyes were still half lidded with lust and Neji licked his lips as he watched her breasts moving up and down as her chest heaved.

He removed his fingers slowly, and moved his body up so his face was at her level. "This **will** hurt."

Sakura nodded determinedly.

Neji's fingers began dancing at her entrance again as he murmured against the skin of her neck, "Maybe I should stretch you a bit more---sss!"

Neji hissed as Sakura's nails clawed into his back. Beneath him, she was glaring daggers into his eyes and he knew there was only one thing she wanted now. He dipped his head to softly kiss her rosy lips. Then he placed a pillow under Sakura's lumbar and, grabbing his base, pushed himself into Sakura's tight core. The scream she emitted was ear shattering, and Neji's clamped his open mouth over hers to muffle the sound.

Sakura was in pain. She felt like something inside of her had just been ripped apart and set on fire. Thanks to ninja training, her hymen had been stretched fairly decently, and a little blood trickled from inside her.

Once her voice had gone hoarse and she was panting out of breath into Neji's mouth, he slowly slid out, all the way to the tip and then drove back in again.

Sakura's eyes were squeezed tightly shut as she whimpered loudly and tears rolled down onto the bed. Neji tenderly kissed the tears away, whispering in her ear that everything was alright. He'd then felt the burning on his back and realized that Sakura had dug her nails deep into his skin, so he gently rubbed circles on her hips and kept whispering reassuring words into her ear.

His words were strained though, because Sakura's tightness and wetness was getting to him. The heat of her core was making Neji nearly salivate with anxiousness for the upcoming event when he'd began pumping inside her.

Neji continued exiting and reentering the young woman- carefully, gently, agonizingly slowly- until he saw the look of pain in her eyes was replaced with pleasure. She became comfortable with Neji inside her body, and began slightly thrusting her hips against him.

Neji groaned in pleasure, but didn't exert his energy then. After all, she was still fresh, but he satisfied them both with slow, deep rocking strokes of his pelvis and he kissed the inside of her arms.

Gradually the motions became rougher quicker as they both felt nothing but pleasure and Sakura's ragged pants and moans filled the room. Neji grunted with each thrust as he hovered over Sakura- his arm propped beside her head- and continued thrusting within her.

Sakrua felt an unfamiliar heat within her. A fire like before, only this one felt good. Neji continued pumping as the heat pooled and built within Sakura who's bucks became more urgent and less rhythmic. Neji knew she was nearing her time and he thrust harder, allowing the walls of her core to contract violently against his penis as she shuddered beneath him and came with yet another loud cry. Neji gave her a several more thrust before pulling out, after climaxing him self.

Heavy pants resounded through the room and Sakura looked tiredly into Neji's eyes with obvious contentment. She gave a tired smile and he gave a small smile back, lowering his head to kiss her lips.

"Mmm, Neji…" Sakura moaned again in a dazed like state.

"Hm?" He asked raising to look at her. But she only let out a small laugh before letting her eyes drift shut.

Neji watched her, a slow, pleasant smile spreading across his lips. He ran his fingers through his hair, pushing back the few wisps that had now escaped from the low ponytail. Gently he kissed her lips before resting his head momentarily on her bare chest, then turned on his back and pulled her onto him.

"Goodnight Sakura." He whispered into the night, as he kissed her forehead and allowed himself to fall asleep beneath her.

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Sakura awoke slowly and stiffly the next morning. She sat up in the bed and shrieked when the covers fell down, revealing half of her naked body. Immediately, recollections of last night's magic flooded into her mind.

"Oh…my…**gosh** what did I just do?" Sakura exclaimed the next morning naked and tangled in her bed sheets. She tried to force herself to think that last night was just a dream, but it felt too real, it popped too vividly into her mind. **It had happened**.

Sakura wasn't so upset about it because of the fact that it was Neji, but because here she was naked, ravaged, and no longer a virgin. After spending nineteen years of just saying 'no,' she found herself waking up after a night of doing nothing but screaming 'yes, yes, yes.' Plus, she wasn't kind of girl to give it up to a guy much more one she wasn't even dating. She prided herself on her good judgment and her ability to make the right decisions even when chaos was swirling like a tornado around her, but last night, she had failed. Last night she had fallen head over heels in lust and let her hormones make all the decisions for her.

Even while she and Neji were kissing, before the clothes began shedding, something inside Sakura was telling her to stop. But something even stronger wanted to be with Neji. Sakura couldn't understand it. Was she just so elated to have Neji taking notice of her? To have Neji feeling such strong feelings towards her-even if it was lust? In the end, Sakura determined that that was probably all it was and now she was even more distraught that after getting her so easily, Neji probably had half the respect for her now.

It was eating Sakura alive on how uncertain she was feeling about the irreversible decision she had made last night.

On top of all that: she was going to have to see Neji sooner or later. Would Neji act as if nothing had happened; as if the two of them were still merely casual acquaintances? Or would the sight of Sakura cause a fire to light up within him- not a fire of lust, but something deeper? Did the Hyuuga feel something, or was it simply a one night stand for him.

Which brought her to another painful realization: it **was** just a one night stand for him. Searching around the bedroom, Sakura saw no signs of Neji. She wrapped the bed sheet around her body and walked barefoot through the house. He was no where to be found. And all his belongings were gone to.

Sakura felt her eyes stinging with tears as she shook her head and laughed bitterly.

There were too many questions, too much going on and Sakura was beginning to get a migraine just from sitting her reliving last night's events. So instead, she attempted to shove them as far into the recesses of her mind as possible. Last night's decision was probably going to be one she would regret greatly, but she had to continue on with her daily routine. Lady Tsunade was expecting Sakura to be at work that morning and she couldn't just blow off her duties even though she was already about an hour late for them.

Laggardly, Sakura readied for the day and headed off to work- body heavy, mind heavy, heart heavy.

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When Sakura arrived to the tower, Lady Tsunade was waiting for her.

"Sakura, just the person I wanted to see!" she exclaimed when Shizune escorted Sakura into the Hokage's office. "I've a mission for you."

Sakura was surprised that the Hokage hadn't yelled at her for being so late, but she didn't press the matter and waited for Lady Tsunade to finish. The Hokage told Sakura to hold on a second, the rest of her team members were on their way.

"Sakura, are you feeling alright?" Tsunade asked suddenly after observing Sakura's distracted behavior. Sakura's face flushed and she waved her hands quickly.

"I'm fine, I'm fine." She lied with a bright, camouflaging smile. Tsunade quirked her brow and prepared to say something when the door burst open.

"Naruto Uzumaki reporting for duty ma'am!" Naruto beamed, thrilled to receive a mission.

"Naruto, calm down!" Tsunade sighed at the energetic blonde. "We still have to wait for the rest of your teammates."

There was a knock at the door and Tsunade called for the visitor to enter. A brown head of hair with two buns at the top poked in before Ten Ten's body appeared.

"You wanted to see me Lady Hokage?" Ten Ten asked, waving to Sakura and Naruto as she entered the room.

"Yes, I have a mission for you all, but we're still expecting two more." Sakura held her breath. She had a sick feeling about who the two were. Sure enough, she was right. About a minute later, Lee entered the large room and right behind him was none other than Neji.

Sakura bit the inside of her mouth and adverted her gaze when she saw him. Memories of last night flooded over her and Sakura felt as if she was about to pass out from the overwhelming feeling of ecstasy, embarrassment, and confusion. Sakura didn't need to look at Neji to see his reaction upon seeing her. She could feel the tension. Taste the anxiety.

Lee and Neji fell into the line Sakura, Naruto and Ten Ten had already formed and awaited instructions.

"Neji, Ten Ten, Lee, since you three seemed to have worked so well with Sakura on your past missions, I decided to put you four in a squad once again. Naruto, you will join them. The five of you are to go over to Hiniku Town. They're village is being destroyed; they're in desperate need of the services of our ninja. This mission is very important; I want you all to take it seriously and do your best to help them out. Now the town is located one day away and it's quite possible that your task at hand will take two full days to complete. Pace yourselves."

Sakura's eyes widened, but she managed to keep her composure. _Four days of Neji?!?!?_ That was **not** what she needed right now! But she was in no position to complain. Questions would stir, brows would rise. No, Sakura would have to suffer in silence.

She realized this was a lose-lose situation for her. Either Neji would completely pretend as if nothing had happened between the two of them, or he would acknowledge that something happened, but argue that it was no more than a fling and to top it off, he felt nothing towards her. Either way, the ending result would be Sakura's devastation. There was the slim, virtually nonexistent, chance that Neji felt sentiments identical to Sakura's. That he was equally confused, embarrassed, and at the same time blissful. That **he** had feelings as deep for Sakura that she had for him.

But that was impossible.

Neji could never fall for someone as ordinary, as homely as Sakura.

Tsunade dismissed the group and Sakura's eyes stayed firmly fixed on the windowsill plant- intent on making no connection whatsoever with Neji's. She knew she couldn't keep this up for the next three, possibly four days, but for the time being, Sakura had a mission of her own to complete: Avoid the Hyuuga!

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**Yeeeaaaahhh…so it wasn't my original intention to have them rush into things so quickly. I actually debated for the longest (which is why I took a while to update) whether to leave it at the confession and the kiss or if I should have them get a little more…closer. Well, for the sake of the plot, I took a greater risk and tada!!, that's why they did it. **

**  
At first, that whole kitchen-lemon thing was going to be apart of last chapter, but I was like, "Yeah…they're gonna get me for that," ya know because of the whole had sex and barely knew each other like that thing. So I decided it'd be best if I also included the day after.**

**Ok, yeah well, I hope you like it. Next chapter will be up soon! Fuel me! Give me reviews! I need reviews! Haha, pleeeease!!!**

**R&R!**

**See ya soon! xoxoxoxoxo**


	12. He Came and Went

**My teachers hate me. Seriously. I've had a test everyday this week and, just for a change of scenery, one of my teachers decided to settle for a quiz. Ain't she a gem? -.-**

**But yeah, with tests and homework and THREE FREAKIN PAPERS that I had to write, I found myself short on time for updating which sucks because I was super ready to update the follow up. Anyway, sorry to keep you all waiting, so here's chapter twelve. **

**And thanks a bunches for the reviews!!!!!**

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**Disclaimer: I do not own pancakes, post-it notes, or Naruto. It's that simple.**

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The five met up at the Village Gates before the sun had broken through the horizon. Hiniku was a long way off and they'd be lucky if they arrived by nightfall.

Sakura still hadn't found closure between she and Neji's…"bonding time" and judging by the discreet distance Neji was keeping between the two, neither had he. Bothe weren't ignorant- they knew they'd had to address it sometime, but hopefully that time would be towards the end of the decade.

Lee and Naruto weren't too sharp on the tension between Neji and Sakura, but Ten Ten picked up on it quickly. She wanted to pull Sakura aside and ask her about it, but she figured that it would be best to wait until they'd arrived at Hiniku, that way Sakura wouldn't have too much on her seemingly already packed mind.

After walking for hours, the group ran into an old man traveling along the road. He was sitting atop a wooden, horse drawn wagon. When he saw the five he had pity on them and decided to offer them a ride.

"I'm headin to Pyro, that's about three fourths of the way to Hiniku. It's not much, but I could give you all a lift if you want." The amiable elder offered. His watery eyes were squinted close as he gave them a white tooth grin.

Neji seemed about to decline when Naruto quickly ran up behind him, clapping his hand over Neji's mouth and nodding his head eagerly. "Yeah, yeah we'd like that, thanks!"

So the five climbed into the old rickety wagon and sat in the bouncing wagon for the three hour journey. The man, Hiro, was very gregarious despite his seasoned age. He, Naruto, and Lee talked nonstop about all sorts of things. But Neji wasn't interested in their conversation. The entire ride there, he secretly kept stealing glances at Sakura who stared absently out into the landscape.

Turning his attention away, Neji sighed remorsefully to himself. Here, sitting right across from him, was the girl who's virginity he had just taken and she was too afraid to say anything to him and he was too uncomfortable to say anything first. As he thought that night over, he would have done things a lot differently. He still would've walked her home and came inside. When she confessed her feelings for him, he still would have said the same thing. He even still would have kissed her. But it would have stopped at that first kiss.

Glancing at Sakura, he was once again overwhelmed with shame. He knew that Sakura was merely caught up in the moment that night they had intercourse; he could even tell that while they were…together. But still, he shook that off and, instead of being the more clearer-minded of the two, he took advantage of her lustful state. Moreover, he was worried that the only reason Sakura had sex with him was because she figured that he would leave if she didn't.

Worst off, he felt horrible about the way he **had** just left her. He'd forgotten he had a training session with his uncle that morning and he was running late. He still had to run home, shower, get dress, and make his way to the Hyuuga manor. As he threw his clothes on, he tried waking Sakura up, but she was out cold. He was going to leave a note or something, but he wasn't sure if she even wanted an explanation or not, so he thought about leaving something of his behind, that way he could come back later for it and they could talk if necessary, but a pounding at the door changed his mind. He had considered the fact that her teammates had keys to her apartment and if they came in without her knowing and saw Neji's belongings, brows would raise. The pounding continued for awhile until finally the person left and Sakura remained sleeping happily on the bed.

Neji opened the bedroom widow and took one last look at Sakura. Would it be mocking her to kiss her goodbye? He wondered as he sat with on leg swung over the window seal and the kunoichi's telephone began ringing, but she didn't stir. Shaking his head, he had jumped back in, kissed her forehead, and left, closing the window behind him.

As Neji pondered how Sakura must have woken up feeling used and alone, millions of thoughts ran through his mind while the wagon steadily rattled along. But of all the thoughts, he realized that he still felt the same for Sakura. Even stronger now actually. He still wanted to be with her, but he knew that they needed to talk some things out first. Unfortunately though, all this was easier said than done.

When the group arrived in Pyro, Hiro offered to let them stay at his and his wife's house. "It's just the two of us. You wouldn't be imposing or anything. Besides, she's one great cook!"

Sakura, Ten Ten, Naruto, and Lee were begging Neji with their eyes to accept the offer. Thanks to a faster mode of transportation, they were ahead of schedule and it seemed as if they might make it to Hiniku around sunset, maybe later. Such a little detour wouldn't hurt them, it'd probably only put them on the same schedule as they were before Hiro came along. But Neji wasn't about to be swayed or overridden again.

He thanked Hiro genuinely for the offer, but turned him down. "It's best that we get to Hiniku as soon as possible, and thanks to your generosity, it seems as if we'll be able to get there before nightfall.

Hiro smiled his eye crinkling smile. "Alright that's fine. You youngsters take care now. You know how to get there right?"

Lee nodded. "Yes, thank you."

"Alright then, bye bye!" Hiro waved goodbye as he turned and took the dirt road leading to his home.

* * *

Hiniku took four more hours to reach. Along the way, the group picked up another ride from a traveling merchant and his wife. They dropped them off a few miles up from Hiniku and the quintet took the rest of the trip on foot.

They entered the town of Hiniku late that afternoon. The place looked horrible; the stilted houses were shabby. The wet streets were littered with splintered wood and debris. Doors were hanging off hinges, windows were broken and shattered, trees were overturned, and gardens had been destroyed.

"What happened here?" Sakura whispered to the group. Neji shook his head slowly and led the group on though the wrecked streets.

Naruto looked through the shattered window an unlit store- one of few buildings in the town built on ground level. Inside looked even more trashed than the outside. "Damn, it looks like a tornado hit this place."

"Not one tornado, several." An old man came walking down the street, kicking litter up as he went. Beside him stood and elderly woman, and a gargantuan, middle aged man with a tall strong build.

The man saw the shinobi and their headbands and smiled. "Hello, you must be the Leaf Shinobi we sent for. My name is Yeni, I live in Hiniku town. This is my wife, Mizuma, and our neighbor Chiro.

"Hello, I'm Neji Hyuuga of the Leaf."

"Hi, I'm Sakura."

"How's it going? I'm Ten Ten."

"My name is Rock Lee. Pleased to meet you."

"And my name's Naruto Uzumaki! So tell me mister, what happened here? Have you guys been pillaged by thugs? Did some notorious rogue-nin stumble across your town and is forcing you guys to submit to him? So what is it? Huh, what?"

Yeni laughed. "Oh right, of course, of course, your mission. Well why don't you all follow me, you must be tired from your travels. My wife has prepared a lovely meal and Chiro has offered to let you stay with him, seeing as how we don't have inns here."

"Gee, that's so sweet, thanks." Sakura smiled. The trio led the ninja through the streets towards their homes. The deeper they traveled into the town, the more and more ruin greeted them. There were more houses and soon people could be seen bustling about, most of them ignoring the ruin obstructing their paths. Some seemed gleeful and oblivious to the destruction while others were agitated or sorrowful as they made a laborious trek through stores with fallen beams and large braches blocking walkways.

Yeni's home- a small, modest cabin with a small plot of land hidden out back- was located deep within the outskirts of the town. A ring of short, rocky mountains surrounded the area in which there was only six other houses- one abandoned. All were built upon long thick stilts. Climbing the ladder and opening the wooden door of Yeni's, they were greeted by the arousing smell of fried fish and freshly cooked vegetables.

"Picked fresh this morning from our garden," Mizuma smiled as she placed a plate down in front of each of their guests, her husband, and Chiro.

"We're so glad that you all came," Yeni smiled. "The village has really met our match this time."

"What happened?" Neji asked the unanswered question.

Chiro laughed somewhat sadly. "Mother Nature."

"Huh?" Ten Ten wondered aloud.

"Hiniku is a lovely, pleasant town, but unfortunately were located in a not so pleasant place. Were near the ocean and when this time of the season comes and winds and tsunamis strike, we're usually faced with the brunt of the attack or we get a nasty taste of the major after effects."

"This storm season, the winds were relentless." Mizuma elaborated. "It started with terrible, hurricane like winds. After a few days, the people of the town began to try to clean up the awful wreckage, but the day after we began, a thunderstorm hit and a tornado touched down. Over the span of two weeks, we've suffered from tornados, dry winds, heavy rains, and other devastating acts of nature."

"Wow that's so sad." Sakura shook her head slowly touching her fingertips to her chin.

"Yeah," Naruto started slowly. "But I have to say I'm not following what any of this has to do with us."

"Well, we think the storm season's at an end and many of the villagers believe it's time to start reconstructing…"

"So…you hired us…to reconstruct your village?" Ten Ten asked, hiding her brewing agitation. Yeni nodded.

"WHAT!!!" Naruto erupted. "**This** is our 'super important' mission? **This** is the reason we came all this way? To be your village's construction workers? What kind of---"

Sakura slapped her hand over the seething blonde's mouth and forcefully slammed him back into the ground where he first sat.

"I'm sorry," Chiro began, "I hate that you had to come all this way for that too, especially since our town is crawling with able bodied men and women. But they're all lazy. In all honesty, your arrival was the core of much controversy among our people. Those who hired you were the ones who, like Yeni and Mizuma, believed that storm season was over, and they wanted to return to their normal lives. However, they refused to do the work themselves, so they pooled their money and decided to have you work on certain areas they owned and that's all- after all, they were the only ones paying, so why should the others benefit?

"But those who didn't pay did so for one of two reasons. One: because they didn't want to give up any of their 'precious' money, or two: because they, like me, believed that storm season was still in progress and we still had one more good storm before we could feel safe again."

After dinner, Mizuma offered them all tea. They sat and sipped and talked more.

"So Chiro, if you believe that the storm season is still in progress, then why is it that you have offered to give us stay in your home?" Lee questioned. "I do not mean to sound ungrateful or anything, but would it not make sense for one of the villagers who requested our arrival to let us stay in their home?"

Chiro laughed his loud laugh once more. There was a bit of venom to it. "Because those asses are too lazy to even be hospitable to the people who have come to help them out in a bind!"

"So Old Man Yeni and Grandma Mizuma here are the only paying villagers who offered to help us huh?" Naruto asked to no one in particular.

"Oh no," Yeni smiled. "Mizuma and I do believe the season is over, yes, but we take care of our own damages."

"You're looking at the two hardest workers in this town guys," Chiro nodded in reference to the room's oldest occupants. "In truth, the only people in this town who don't seem to mind fending for themselves live right here in this area…"

There was a slight hmm coming from the shinobi and Chiro rose from the table with a loud, stretching grunt. "You all are done eating; we should head over to my house so you all can get some rest. You'll have an early and hard day tomorrow, I'm sure."

The group thanked the couple and walked down the ladder, careful not to slip in the now dark night. They followed Chiro, using the moon as a dim light, across the muddy ground a few yards away to his house.

"Yeah, don't think Yeni and Mizuma didn't want you to stay with them or nothing," Chiro grunted out to the five as they all climbed the ladder. "It's just their house is small enough as it is- there wouldn't be enough space for all of you. I live alone and there's two extra rooms at my place, so you guys should be alright."

"Yes, thank you," Neji responded as they reached the top. Chiro opened the door.

"Well, goodnight!" Chiro waved after showing them to their rooms. He pointed out the bathroom, the kitchen, and his bedroom-just in case they needed him. They all thanked him and entered their rooms, the boys on one side of the hall, the girls in the room across from it.

Once the door had been closed, Ten Ten grabbed Sakura's arm. In a harsh whisper, she demanded, "Talk. What's going on, you seem so depressed. Distracted. Did Neji have anything to do with this, do I need to kill him?"

Sakura laughed and shook her head. Then her face fell and she thought a moment, then shook her head some more. "No…yes. Oh, I'll tell you in a second! I have to use the bathroom."

Sakura snuck up the dark hallway, across the front room to the other side of the house and into the bathroom. Once she did her business and was making her way back to the bedrooms, she ran across Chiro standing in the kitchen, positioned near the bathroom, in a door-less room behind the front room. The two rooms ran right into each other, so Sakura saw Chiro standing there, a half eaten cookie in his hand.

When he saw her, he froze, then bust out with his roaring laughter. "I guess you caught me, huh? Well, what can I saw, everybody in this village has their deadly sin; for most it's slothfulness, as for me, well I'm a glutton."

Chiro laughed again and Sakura joined. He finished his cookie, turned out the kitchen light, and winked at Sakura, "Well, goodnight."

"Chiro…" Sakura hesitated. "Before you go to bed…may I ask you a question?"

"Hmm?"

"When we came into town, the place was wrecked, but here, where you, Yeni, Mizuma, and whoever else lives, there seems to be no damage and the only sign of stormy weather is the muddy ground. What's up with that? Did you all already renovate?"

Chiro shook his head. "Nope, it's because we've established ourselves within a good location, despite the bad location surrounding us. You saw it when you came up, these six houses are basically in a giant crater. When the storm winds blow, the rocks around us offer a great source of protection; that's how Yeni's garden, the only prosperous one in our town, is lasting as it is. Of course we're at greater risk for flooding, but we all worked together to dig a great runoff leading from this area and into a lake that soon empties out into the sea thanks to a long river.

"It's not like we have any claim over this land either." Chiro continued. "Anyone can build here, but they're all so lethargic that they find it too much work carrying their needed supplies over the small hike and they don't want to have to take the walk back and forth to get to the shops when they could just live right by them. The decision is entirely up to them- it's they who'll reap the consequences."

Sakura nodded. "I see."

"Yeah, but like I said," Chiro nodded as they made their way to the side of the house with the bedrooms, "I don't think this storm season's over. I got a gut feeling that we've got one more coming. A bad one. So you remember what I said: the mountains will shield you from the winds, but always keep you eyes on the rain."

Sakura nodded again and smiled. "Thanks Chiro."

* * *

**Okie dokie…review pretty pretty pretty please!!!**

**See ya soon! xoxoxoxoxo**


	13. Up on the Rooftop

**Thanks for the reviews!!!! =D**

* * *

**Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto.**

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Early the next morning, a young man came knocking on Chiro's door. The entire house was asleep and the five shinobi slowly peeked their sleepy eyes open. Even Naruto was awake after Chiro's heavy, sleep laden footsteps stumbled through the dark house.

There was the sound of a heavy wood door opening and then voices.

"We need the shinobi. It's time for them to get to work." An unfamiliar voice rudely demanded to Chiro. Sakura groaned to herself and twisted her neck up to see out the window; it was still dark.

The contempt in Chiro's voice was obviously distinguishable. "It's five in the morning," he drawled angrily, "let them rest."

"Chiro, if you were paying for their services then whatever time you wanted them to start working would be up to you, but since you're not, I don't think you have any say over this."

Chiro's voice tightened. "Well _Rengo_, if you were housing or feeding them for the duration of their stay here than you can barge right in and dictate, but if not, you haven't the say or the right to be here right now."

"I'm paying for their services! I have every right to dictate---"

"Not in my home." Chiro finalized and slammed the door closed. Sakura felt bad about being the cause of any problems that may have arised from that argument, but she was relieved to be getting a little bit more sleep. Or so she thought.

As Chiro lividly made his way back to his bedroom, the door across the hall-the one to the room the boys were sleeping in- slid open.

"Chiro, I appreciate your kindness, but our mission was to help the villagers. If they're ready to begin now then so be it."

Sakura squeezed her eyes tighter and pulled the covers over her head. Damn Neji and his nobleness.

Chiro tiredly protested, but Neji stood firm. Finally, the older of the two gave in. "Well at least have something to eat before you go. No rush."

Chiro's footsteps made their way up the hall again and into the kitchen where a clanging resounded as he shifted things around.

Across the hall the door slid open again and faintly, Sakura could hear the murmur of Neji's voice. Scratchy, drowsy voices coming from both Naruto and Lee could be heard, then once again Neji's voice, sharper this time.

After a few seconds of quietness, there was a dull knocking at their door.

"Go away asshole." Sakura heard Ten Ten grumble sleepily and quietly. She laughed silently beneath her cover and continued to play sleep. The knocking got louder.

"Sakura, Ten Ten, I know you both are up. Get ready, we'll be leaving soon." Neji didn't say another word, and simultaneously, the girls sighed and rose, both slouching dozily.

* * *

Immediately when they got there, Rengo put the five to work. Each one of them felt suppressed anger about the way dozens of able bodied townspeople casually strolled up and down the littered streets; leaving their wreckage in the hands of others.

* * *

"Are we almost done?" Naruto groaned, wiping the heavy sweat coating his forehead. The five were on a rooftop, repairing a gaping hole. It was now afternoon and the blistering sun mercilessly blazed down upon them- causing each to sweat profusely. Since they'd finished up with Rengo, they'd already done repairs for five others. The shop they were working on now was their sixth.

Sakura let out an exhausted sigh and responded with disappointed and fatigued annoyance. "I don't think so. That woman across the street wants us to come over next…"

"And then there's probably gonna be someone after that, and after that, and after that…" Ten Ten scoffed.

"Thanks for being optimistic Ten Ten." Neji rolled his eyes along with his sarcasm.

"Neji, may we take a break now? Ten Ten and Sakura look as if they are about to fall of the roof." Lee observed.

It was true.

The temperature, the previous day cool and thick with moisture, was now sweltering and increasingly humid. The only thing that the five had eaten all day was Chiro's breakfast. The dish didn't look too appetizing and he definitely wasn't as good a cook as Mizuma, but the beige, thick gruel didn't taste too bad and it did exactly what Chiro said it would; it gave the posse energy throughout their work and it stuck to their stomachs so they wouldn't be feeling hungry anytime soon.

Neji took a careful look at the girls, his attention resting longer on Sakura whose face was damp and ruddy, but she kept on working.

She kept her eyes on the roof and her work, avoiding Neji's eyes, and, not wanting to slow them down, she mumbled out, "I'll be fine."

Sakura didn't see the way Neji's eyes quickly narrowed in concern before returning to normal. Ten Ten looked warily at Sakura. She was tired and they all knew that. And Ten Ten, dripping with sweat and suffering under the harsh sunlight was no more energetic than her friend. She knew that despite how much Sakura jumped on Naruto about his stubbornness, she was just as bad most times too, and right now, the pick haired female was going to work until she collapsed in exhaustion.

Sighing and wiping her sweat drenched face on the back of her clammy hand, Ten Ten stood tall. "Well I won't. If we don't stop I'm keeling over."

Neji quickly gave a short nod. "Very well. We'll take a break."

"Hey, can we get off this roof- go over in the shade?" Naruto questioned pointing in the direction of an abandoned shop with a widespread awning. "This sun's killing me!"

They all agreed and carefully descended the ladder propped against the shop. Naruto went first, collapsing backwards on the hot, welcoming ground. A small smile of relief was on his face. Lee followed next, careful to make sure Ten Ten got down safely. Sakura was about to go down when Neji stopped her.

"I'll go first." He said curtly, looking at the ladder, not her. "…Just in case you slip."

Sakura was quiet but nodded and moved so that Neji could access the ladder first. He climbed down, pausing about halfway from the ground and waited for Sakura to get on. She did wobbly- mainly awestruck by Neji's concern- and climbed down without problem. At the bottom, Neji gently took her forearm in his hand and helped her down the last few steps. Sakura's already flushed face was set aglow again at Neji's gentle contact. She gave a small, nervous smile and looked at the tip of Neji's ear.

"Thanks," she nodded quietly. Neji nodded and uncomfortably cleared his throat, removing his hand in the process. He began walking off towards the awning and Lee and Naruto, who was slowly getting up, followed.

Ten Ten lagged, waiting for Sakura. She cocked a brow at her and Sakura quickly looked away, knowing where this all was headed. Slowly, Ten Ten's face lit in supernatural understanding and a smile began breaking across her lips.

"When?" Ten Ten hissed, careful not to let the boys hear them.

Sakura sighed. "…That night he walked me home from Ichiraku's."

Ten Ten nearly squealed, but she caught herself and excitedly patting her hand over her silently gaping mouth she laughed breathlessly. "Oh my gosh, no way! That's…I…I don't know what to say, you---wait. Why are you so upset then?"

Sakura rolled her eyes and sighed. "Because, I think that just made everything worse. We're even more awkward around each other now than we ever were!"

Ten Ten pursed her lips in remorse. "I'm sorry Sakura, maybe you both just need a little time to think about it all you know. After all, I guess it was kinda sud---"

"Oh girls, there you are!" The two gossiping ladies turned and faced down the road where Mizuma was walking up towards them.

"I brought you all lunch. I know you're hungry. Where are the boys?"

"Oh thanks Mizuma. They're up there," Sakura pointed down the street, along the shops where the three were just arriving at to rest. "We just decided to take a break."

"Well good!" Mizuma smiled. And the three made there way to the guys. Sakura and Ten Ten offered to take the two baskets from Mizuma as they made their way the few yards down the road.

"Hey look who's here!" Ten Ten announced when they reached the awning.

"Mizuma, hello!" Lee greeted the hospitable woman and the other two echoed the greeting as well. Mizuma spoke back.

"And she brought food!"Sakura smiled brightly, holding up the basket she was carrying.

"Awesome! Just in time!" Naruto's face lit up as he eyed the basket hungrily. "Thanks!"

"I knew you had to be tired and hungry after working so hard. And besides, you probably want to get the taste of Chiro's breakfast out your mouth, I'm certain!" The light hearted woman chuckled and the other five laughed along.

Mizuma sat and ate lunch with the group, then gathered the baskets when they were all done and headed back home.

Fully energized, Lee hopped up and began stretching. "Well, I guess we should get back to work now!"

"Speak for yourself Bushy Brow…" Naruto muttered, earning a light slap in the back of the head from Sakura.

Neji nodded. "Sakura, Ten Ten, I want the two of you to stay and rest a little longer."

Ten Ten rolled her eyes. "Stop being so damn sexist Neji, we'll be fine."

Neji didn't entertain Ten Ten's retort much. Instead, while walking away he simply called back. "I don't want to have to make it an order. Take an extra five minutes."

The three men walked off and Ten Ten glared after them, but once they were again at the ladder, her eyes regained their sparkle and she turned them expectantly at Sakura. "Well?"

"Well what?"

"Obviously whatever you're thinking can't be too bad if Neji's been so concerned about you over the course of this trip!"

A flicker of excitement fluttered within Sakura, but she refused to embrace it. "He's just worried about the well being of his comrades."

"Yeah, a pretty little pink haired one in particular." Ten Ten joked, twirling a piece of Sakura's tresses. Sakura jerked her head away, causing the lock to slip from between Ten Ten's fingers, but it wasn't out of anger; it was because Ten Ten was getting Sakura's hopes up and she didn't need for Neji to bring them crashing down.

Sakura opened her backpack and shoved aside the plentiful papers crammed within, searching for a cloth to wipe her face with.

"What are those?" Ten Ten asked pointing to the papers. Sakura picked one up and sighed.

"Flyers. From the business owners whose buildings we've already fixed up. I dunno why they keep picking me, but they asked for me to give one to all of you guys. If you can't tell I didn't."

Ten Ten laughed and Sakura closed her book bag, forgetting the reason she'd opened it in the first placed and gave a short laugh.

"I mean seriously Ten Ten, I just wanna throw the flyers back in their faces like 'I just busted my ass in the heat cleaning up your place for not as much as a thank you! Like hell I'm about to be your advertiser now!'"

Ten Ten laughed harder. "And that's why they keep pickin you! They can tell you're nice and you **won't** say that, even if you're **thinking** it!"

Sakura laughed and rolled her eyes. "Well next time I will. I'm tired of this crap taking up space."

Ten Ten laughed with her friend until slowly, the laughter died off.

"You should talk to him." Ten Ten suddenly and quietly said, returning to their original subject.

Sakura scoffed. "You know that's much easier said than done."

Ten Ten nodded. "Of course it is, but I know you can do it. Shoot, had it been me in your shoes, I probably woulda faked sick to get outta this mission. But you obviously have more guts than me Sakura. If you can last this long, so close to him, then I'm pretty sure you have the guts to talk to him about it. You're not afraid to do it, you're just afraid of what you might hear."

Sakura sighed and stood up. "You ready to go?"

Ten Ten sighed as well. "Alright Sakura…be stubborn." And the girls walked back to the building that the boys had already begun again.

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**The part we've been waiting for is coming up. Confrontation. Not the next chapter, but the next **_**next**_** chapter. Yay? Yay. Haha.**

**Remember: please, please, **_**please**_** review. I feel all warm and fuzzy when you do. You want me to feel that way…right? Rhetorical. Please don't answer, just review. Hahaha.**

**See ya soon! xoxoxoxoxo**


	14. Separated

**Hiya! So um yeah…chapter fourteen. It's here. I kinda have the feeling like I should be telling you something…but I don't know what. So let's not worry about it shall we? **

**Thanks for reviewing! It would be so kind and appreciated if you kept it up. =D**

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**Disclaimer: Do I own Naruto? No. Sadly, I have yet to abduct him and add him to my growing collection of POS (Prisoners of Sex). **

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By the end of their two days of work in Hiniku, the group was exhausted. All four had calluses all on their palms, and Naruto had gotten about six splinters that Sakura had to meticulously pull out.

Yeni and Mizuma leant the shinobi some of their garden tools such as wheelbarrows to help make the workload easier. Chiro had surprisingly manually helped the quartet out as well, but only when it came to public things- like clearing debris from a busy town street. The only time he helped them repair or clean up the private property of the townspeople is if said person was elderly or a female.

With Yeni's wheelbarrow making transporting things easier and Chiro's exceedingly robust, six-five frame that was probably capable of singlehandedly carrying everything the four of them could lift put together, the Leaf ninja finished their work a day ahead of schedule.

"Thanks for everything you guys!" Sakura beamed as the shinobi, Chiro, Yeni, and Mizuma ate their last dinner together.

"Yes, we really appreciated it all," Lee echoed.

"Aw, it was no problem..." Yeni smiled his warm, fragile smile.

"Won't you four stay an extra day?" Mizuma offered. "You must be exhausted after working so hard. It's a shame you have to leave so quickly. Won't you take a day off to rest before returning home?"

Neji shook his head. "Thank you, but no ma'am. We're needed back at our village." Mizuma nodded in understanding and reached across the table to pat the young man's hand.

After dinner, they all headed back over to Chiro's.

"You know," the older man began as they all entered the door of the empty house. "You may want to take Mizuma up on that offer. Well that or stay a little while longer. I told you I don't think storm season's over with."

"Aw, we'll be fine!" Naruto smiled, patting the much larger man on the back. "Besides, Old Man Yeni told me the other day when I went over there that his knee never failed to ache when a storm was about to hit. Says his knee's been doing just fine."

"Yes, that's true, but the most dangerous storms are sudden."

"Chiro," Neji nodded politely. "Thank you for your advice and your hospitality." And with that the conversation was ended and they all turned in for the night.

* * *

Surprisingly, Naruto was able to convince Neji to let the group sleep in until ten that morning instead of leaving before the break of dawn. Ten Ten secretly joked with Sakura saying that the reason was because Sakura had agreed with Naruto's suggestion, but the rosette just brushed her words off. Instead, she figured that it was because Chiro had talked with Naruto about the merchants that generally travel along the main road they'd be taking and they generally didn't leave until later in the day and they'd be more than happy to lend the travelers a free ride. And Naruto relayed all this to Neji. Although what Chiro said was true, ironically, the reason for Neji's decision was out of concern for Sakura.

After having their finally meal with their hospitable new friends and bidding them all goodbye, the four shinobi finally set off to their village.

"Man it's humid!" Ten Ten muttered as she fanned her face with her hand.

"Yeah I know," Naruto grumbled. "And you know what's worse? Not even a single villager thanked us before we left. Not one damn one!"

They all nodded in reference to both of the two's statements.

"Well, Chiro did say to expect nothing less when we departed." Lee shrugged. They were far from the heart of the town, but still within its limits.

It was about noontime and the group had just finished eating one of the many snacks Mizuma had packed for them on their journey.

"That little town we passed between Hiniku and Pyro when we were on our way here, that was a pretty place; are we going to stop there and rest."

"No." Neji nearly snapped at Sakura's innocent question. She looked hurt for a second, although no one saw, and Neji caught himself and added almost apologetically and irritably. "We're already behind schedule. We need to keep moving as much as we can."

Sakura gave a slight grunt and a nod and Naruto bit the inside of his mouth, speeding his pace up a little bit. He knew the irritability of that statement was directed at him. After walking for about and hour and a half, Naruto realized that he had gotten the times mixed up. As far as they knew, there would be no merchants traveling in their direction any time soon. They would be walking the entire way to the village and- if they didn't stop to rest anywhere- they'd more than likely get there late that night if not early the next morning.

As they walked, Neji would steal a glance at Sakura every now and again. Sakura caught him a couple of times and quickly adverted her suddenly rosy faced gaze. Ten Ten, who walked beside her pink haired friend caught Neji all thirteen times he did it. When Neji's back was towards them, she'd nudge Sakura lightly in her side and jerk her head pointedly towards Neji. Sakura shot her a glare, telling her to cut it out, and the brunette gave a small laugh before stopping for a few feet.

They reached a small, empty roadside restaurant about an hour later. They were famished, and since they all agreed it'd be best to save as much of Mizuma's treats for later on just in case something happened, they stopped there.

Neji sternly instructed for the group not to lollygag, that they needed to leave as soon as possible. They ate their food in near silence and about ten minutes later, they paid their fare and headed out.

"Oh, shit…" Ten Ten muttered as the group exited the building. The sky above was now a dreary dark gray. The humidity had heightened but the temperature had dropped.

"There's going to be a storm," Neji's eyes narrowed.

"Heading westward, we'll run right into it." Sakura added. The quartet reentered the building just as the head chef and owner was coming from the back.

"I'm sorry, but you guys gotta go. We're closing shop- there's a big storm coming."

"Yes, we see that." Neji nodded. "Is there anywhere close by we can stay?"

The man scratched his bristly neck. "Hm, if you walk a ways up there's a little town that's got a pretty nice inn for a not so bad price. It'll take you probably half an hour to get there- maybe forty five."

By now, the cook had back the quintet out the door. "Good luck." He said shortly before closing the door tightly.

"Well he was nice." Naruto scoffed sarcastically.

"We had better start walking." Lee sighed as Neji had already turned and began walking off the path and towards the forest. The five were going to have to make it in quicker than thirty minutes if they wanted to avoid the storm.

As they leapt through the treetops, the sky darkened from a heavy gray to a near black.

"We need to get on stable ground." Neji ordered as the wind picked up and dangerously shook the branches. The five touched ground as a very slight drizzle began.

"So are we going back on the path?" Lee questioned, yelling over the increasing wind. Just before Neji could respond, a violent deluge pierced through the canopy. The angry wind picked up and howled through the forest.

"We need to find shelter!" Neji yelled the obvious. The group barely managed to hear him.

"Where?" Ten Ten yelled out; her voice getting swallowed by the torrent.

"What?" Neji yelled back.

"She asked 'where?'" Sakura shouted. Her voice was no louder than Ten Ten's but being slightly closer to Neji, she figured it was worth a shot. But Neji still didn't hear.

"WHERE?" Naruto bellowed from behind Ten Ten. His voice cut through the chaos loud and clear.

"I'm not quite sure." Neji yelled back.

"Should we stay in the forest or head for the path?" Lee wondered next.

Neji thought for a second until Sakura appeared beside him and spoke exactly what he'd been thinking. "The forest may seem dangerous, but there's at least the possibility of shelter. You saw Hiniku…when residue blew in from their shops and trees, the streets were torn up. If anything were to blow from the forest…we'd be sitting ducks."

Neji looked down at the kunoichi now standing beside him. It was impossible to make out her face in the dark forest so he couldn't see the way she kept her eyes adverted to the ground.

"Sakura's right!" Naruto shouted. "I remember Grandma Mizuma telling me that she wasn't from Hiniku. That her family and a few others lived in cabins in the woods. She said it was these woods right outside'a Hiniku. The cabins are still probably up!"

"Naruto, I think we listened to you enough for one lifetime!" Ten Ten snapped. The stinging rain pelting against her skin.

"Look I know I messed up, but I know what I'm talking about this time. I swear! Besides, we don't have time to argue right now!" Naruto shouted just as a tree limb fell a little distance away. It was silent for a moment until Sakura's voice barely rose above the storm.

"I believe Naruto. I say we try to find the cabins."

"Sakura---"

"I second that." Lee interrupted Ten Ten as he wrapped a reassuring arm around her waist.

Ten Ten sighed. "Fine."

The wind lashed as the four patiently waited for Neji's verdict. "Do you know exactly where, Naruto?"

Naruto smiled. "No, but she did say it was deep in the trees."

"Let's go then." Neji ordered, and they headed deeper and cautiously into the trees.

Naruto walked up behind Sakura and flashed a gracious smile that she was barely able to see. "Thanks."

Sakura smiled. "No problem."

"Let's pick it up guys! This storm's getting worse!" Neji commanded over his shoulder. The five began moving faster. Moving through the dark was dangerous, and Neji nearly stumbled on a slightly risen tree root. He turned around to warn the group, but it was too late. Sakura, who followed him, stumbled over the root, however, she too was able to regain her balance. But when Ten Ten stumbled as well, and then Lee and then Naruto, they all leaned forward like a domino effect, but it was Sakura who was knocked forward about a yard and sent falling into the ground.

A chorus of apologies rang out and Neji extended his hand uncertainly for Sakura. She laid her hand in his and just as she did, a massive bolt of lightning stuck down on a tree a couple of yards away. Sparks lit up the night and a hurricane like wind suddenly began blowing. The tree that had just been struck fell mercy to the wind and with a loud cracking noise began to tip over in the shinobi's direction.

"Shit." Neji swore as he jerked Sakura up and the two began running forwards as the other three members of their team ran the opposite direction. The branches of the tree caught hold of other tree branches and weaker trees and caused a barrage of timber to rain down on a fleeting Sakura and Neji as they were pushed deeper into the forest. The catastrophe lasted for only about fifteen seconds, and once the two were safe, Neji had Sakura pressed against a tree as he protectively stood his body in front of her. The two caught their breath for a moment- oblivious to their closeness.

As the rain bombarded down and they became aware that they were still in danger, they also became aware of how close they were. Neji cleared his throat and pulled back.

"Are you alright?"

Sakura nodded shakily. "Yeah…you?" she breathed out.

"I'm fine. But I'm afraid we've bee separated."

"Oh no. Naruto! S-Should we try to find the others?" Sakura asked in worry.

"I'm sure they'll all be fine. It's us we need to focus on right now, I have no idea where we are and we need to find shelter---" Another crack of lightning lit up the sky, it's echoing noise cutting Neji off.

"Neji!" Sakura's eyes lit up and she took a couple of steps forward and past him.

"Sakura, are you alright?"

"Yeah, I'm fine- but did you see them too?" She asked, her finger pointed forward.

"See what?"

"The mountains. Back there when the lightning hit, I could see the tips of the mountains in the distance!"

"…That's…nice? Sakura we really need to find shelter now- the rains getting heavier."

Sakura laughed as the wind nearly swallowed her voice. "That _**is**_ our shelter Neji! Chiro told me that first night when we stayed at his house that the mountains were a good source of refuge- mainly from the wind. I didn't think about it before because I didn't think there were any in the forest!"

"You think it's a good shot?"

Sakura nodded and winced against her the weather. The wind slapped their hair against their faces and the rain pelted their exposed flesh. Neji nodded back.

"Byakugan!" Neji scanned the landscape for a couple of seconds. "Let's go."

He grabbed Sakura's wet hand and led her through the forest towards the mountains.

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"Sakura! SAKURA!!" Naruto yelled into the empty darkness.

"Naruto…Naruto! We gotta get out of this weather!" Ten Ten shouted, gently touching the anxious blonde's shoulder.

"Ten Ten is right." Lee agreed sadly. "After all, it is Sakura and Neji we are talking about here. I am certain the both of them will be alright."

"**SAKURA!!!**" Naruto tried one final time. He stood still, seemingly unfathomed by the harsh wind and the stinging rain. Finally his shoulders dropped and he sighed. "I'll see if I can lead us to the cabins."

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**So like I said, the chapter after this one is the one you've been waiting for I'm sure. I won't try to keep it from you long my darlings!**

**OH BEAN CURD!!! **_**NOW**_** I remember what I wanted to tell you all, I'm too lazy to take out the part from up top and put this there, so it'll be here m'kay. Anyways, it's really a question. So…is it just me…or does Lee seem to be going from adorable to orgasmical???? Just wondering…**

**The analogy of the day: Kisekilotus is like a car and reviews, like gas. The more fuel she receives, the better and longer and faster she runs. Please keep her running. Please keep her running real good. lol**

**See ya soon! xoxoxoxoxo**


	15. Neejiiii…you got some 'splain to do!

**You're gonna like this…I hope. Haha**

**Ba-Bump-Ba-Bump-Ba-Bump-etc-etc-etc (That's my heart…you can't tell this, but my heart is thanking you for the reviews. The wonderful, hilarious reviews!!!!) You guys rock(et)!!!!!!! **

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**Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto, buuut…if you know how to make that happen…let me know! Haha (Hey did you know that I do own POS and I have another POS-addict??? Cool right! Hee hee, just sayin!) **

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Outside, the rain beat heavily against the impregnable shelter of the rocky cave. Neji and Sakura had finally reached the mountains and immediately, they felt relief from the blustery-ness of the weather. The rain, however, still fell down and was starting to pool at the bottom of the no longer dry rocks.

They'd managed to use their chakra to climb the wall and found a gutted out area high enough to protect them in the event of flooding. The opening wasn't too large; very tall, but only about two by two meters. Neji searched around the small space and was able to find a dry rock.

"Well this will allow us to start a fire, but we won't be able to sustain it."

Sakura bit her lip in thought for a second until her eyes lit up. "What about these?" She slipped her bag off her back and pulled out a few of the many advertising handouts she'd received. Neji cocked a brow at the oddness of it, so she took it upon herself to explain.

"Most of the shop owners…well all of them…gave these to me. I meant to throw them away, but I guess it's kinda good I didn't. Once they're ashes, they won't do us any good, but it's better than nothing, right?"

Neji nodded and picked up the pamphlets she handed him.

"It'd probably be best to wait until nightfall to use these…"

"…When the temperature drops." Sakura agreed, finishing his statement. Neji nodded approvingly and set the rocks and papers down at the very back of the cave and as far away from the violent weather outside as possible.

Meanwhile, Sakura sat against the wall on her bottom with her knees drawn into her chest as she rested her head between them.

"You're cold." Neji observed.

Sakura began shaking her head and was prepared to lie and say no, but Neji had already, hesitantly untied his robe and pulled the wet material from his body.

"It may be wet, but when it dries it's an extra layer."

He said nothing more than that and Sakura shook her head fervently. "I'm fine. I don't need it."

"Sakura---" Neji began with a small sigh but the woman cut him off.

"Thanks though." She turned her head, laying it on her knees, and turned to stare distantly out at the rain. There was a few seconds of silence before she heard a muffled _**thwa**_, so she lifted her head to see Neji's shirt folded and on the ground beside her. She looked forward to see Neji- bare back to her.

He set against the opposite wall, not saying a word. A slight smile tugged at the corner of her lips and she turned her attention back outside. Minutes passed and the only noise offered was from Mother Nature.

That was until…

"Sakura…may we talk?"

Within her chest, Sakura felt her heart race. She tried vainly to keep her voice steady and calm despite her nervousness as she questioned, "About what?"

Initially, the first thing Neji thought was to respond with an irritated sigh coupled with a "What do you think I'm suggesting we talk about?" But such a snippy comment was a surefire way to turn a dreaded conversation into a verbal blood brawl; one that he didn't care to participate in.

The same outcome was possible with his next thought, starting off with an apology. That could either have a really good effect, or a really bad one, and for some reason, it didn't seem like a good idea to him.

Intuition was telling him to just do it however he was most comfortable. The Hyuuga always trusted his intuition. He formulated his words slowly, cautiously. With that ever present contemplation and skill. But he released them with uncommon slowness, hesitation, and difficulty.

As Neji began talking, he felt like the words weren't being expressed how he'd hoped, but he'd always been a man of a few words, so this was even harder for him than it'd be for most.

"I had forgotten I was to train that morning. I tried to wake you, but you were fast asleep. Despite the fact that they may not use it as much, you're teammates do have open access into your home and you have an honorable reputation- the last thing you'd probably want is to be found in bed with someone. I would have returned……I should have returned……I apologize Sakura."

Sakura shook her head, smiling sadly. Her head was still turned toward the entrance so the young man couldn't see the tears she was so desperately trying to blink away. "Forget it Neji."

Neji's eyes narrowed slightly in exasperation; he'd breached his daily quota of words, swallowed the complete and utter discomfort that the conversation had stirred up within him just so Sakura could say to "forget it?" No. He hadn't. Whether that meant he was being selfish or not.

He didn't get to dwell on it though, because out of nowhere, Sakura blurted out. "Are we supposed to act like it never happened?"

Neji sighed heavily. "I guess it all depends…on what path we choose to take."

"What?"

"You have a reputation. So do I." Neji answered simply. He had no intention for it to sound as cold as it did and didn't even realize how much of an effect it had until Sakura stood up, **enraged**.

"Reputation? **Reputation**!" she shrieked as the lightning crashed. Her eyes were watery and her heart felt like it was in her throat and she was breathing quickly, but it was as if she was getting no air. "Well I guess that answers that huh. You're too good for me…is that what you're getting at? You're worried about what people are going to say when they find out that the great shinobi Neji Hyuuga slept with me- Sakura Haruno of no nobility whatsoever. But what the hell, you're a Hyuuga of one of the Leaf's few aristocracies; I guess you are too good, aren't you. I was way out of my league when I set my sights on you I shoulda just---"

"It's not like that Sakura!" Neji yelled suddenly, surprising them both. The thunder outside boomed and when it settled, Neji slowly sat back down to the ground releasing his low ponytail and running his fingers raggedly through his hair.

"Then what _**is**_ it like?" Sakura spat, recovering from her shock and glaring down at him. He sighed.

"You're the Leaf Village's top medic-nin as well as one of our best kunoichi. Everyone there- children, shinobi, the elders- they all love and respect you. They think highly of you, just as they think highly of me, maybe not for the same reasons, but still… I don't want what we did to cause them to suddenly start thinking ill of you."

"You mean you don't want them to start thinking ill of **you**? Right? That's why you mentioned **your** reputation before."

"I already told you I didn't mean it to sound like that." Neji defended hotly. He was getting annoyed. Agitated. Upset that one night of passion could cause all this. He wanted to just storm over to his stuff and tell her forget it and turn in for the night. But he didn't. Because he didn't want her to forget it- no, he didn't want her to forget **him**.

"Well I'm confused here Neji! What **do** you mean?" Sakura's eyes were nearly overflowing now.

"I…I can't explain it…" Neji answered quietly and honestly. Sakura scoffed and shook her head sadly.

The conversation went on like that for what seemed like hours, but no matter how uncomfortable things got, both parties refuse to stop until they were satisfied with where they stood in relation to one another.

Out of the blue, Sakura became calm and somber. She sat back down on the ground and quietly muttered, "It was a mistake."

"Huh?" The pale man had heard her, but impulsively, he asked for her to repeat herself. Neji felt an alien hollowing of his chest as her words caused his heart to sink.

Sakura's voice dropped slightly, but she reiterated with firmness. "It was a mistake…right?"

This time it was a question.

Neji took a deep breath. He could have ended it there. But he chose not to. "No Sakura."

"But you regret it," the pink haired young female asked, once again gazing outside, "mistake or not?"

The lightning lit the sky and for a split second, a thick screen of rain was visible before the heavy, blurred darkness returned.

"Yes." Neji answered finally. If Sakura had never felt alive before, well then, she never would again, because that one word killed her. She felt deprived of air as her lungs collapsed a tear escaped before she could catch it.

"But it's not because…it isn't because I don't like you…because I don't care for you." Neji continued, inwardly feeling awkward and nervous. "It's because…because I do."

Sakura mustered the strength to lock eyes with a heavy, questioning look. Neji went on.

"Do you remember what you said to me that night, and what you asked me?"

Although he didn't say, she knew what night he meant and she undoubtedly knew what she'd said: _"You know Neji…I'm actually glad you walked me home. You were right when you said I usually don't dress up, but I did tonight because…well, I did it to get your attention."_

"And do you remember what I said in return?" He continued after Sakura lightly nodded. She smiled.

"…_Yes, Sakura. You did catch my attention….You caught my attention even before tonight." _

Neji paused to devise more stifling words. He finally continued honestly, "Well I meant every word of it. **Every word**."

This was all surreal to the both of them; especially Neji. Never had the young Hyuuga spoke like this. Never had he hoped like this. Never had he _**felt**_ like this.

Sakura just stared at him in silence, mouth slightly ajar.

"But…" he continued and she felt a wave of panic collide against her. How she hated that conjunction! "…It's obvious we each got caught up in the moment…and moved too fast."

Suddenly, the wind began howling as a now perturbed Neji unexpectedly flipped the canon on Sakura. "Well, what is it that **you** want?"

"Wha…?" Sakura breathed out looking at him. She felt her heart sink.

"I can't decide where the two of us are going for the both of us. Your input is needed as well."

"Well-well what do you want me to say?"

"What did you want me to say? Answer the same questions you expected of me."

Sakura shook her head slowly, mouth opening and closing as she stared at the ground. Neji waited patiently.

"I understand…what you say about us moving too fast, but…it's like I told you that night, Neji…I care about you. I like you and I still do even after what we did. And……and I still want to be with you…you know, if the feeling's mutual and everything."

Neji sat in silence- once again dumbstruck by her boldness. Slowly he began to nod. "I agree…And I'm glad we both think we rushed things. There are undoubtedly a few things we have to work over, but I believe we see eye to eye when it comes to the most important things: we both acknowledge and accept what happened and…we both don't have any intention to hide it nor tell it to the world, but if people find out…they find out?"

Sakura nodded, confirming his assessment. "…So where does this leave us?" She asked softly as Neji prepared to start a fire now that the temperature had sank several degrees.

It was quiet for awhile and they both listened to the rain beating down outside. More silence followed until, finally, Neji spoke.

"…Together?" He offered, surprising them both. Neji had never done anything like this before. Although he'd been approached by females countless times, the situation was never reversed. On top of all that, being as ascetic as he was, he'd never had a girlfriend much less approached a girl for a date. He knew the way he was going about asking Sakura to be his girlfriend was probably all wrong, but it was worth a shot. Sakura was too good to let slip away.

Semi-dry pink hair strands slapped Sakura's shocked face as she snapped her head towards Neji.

"Together?" She asked again, making certain she'd heard him correctly.

Neji nodded slowly. Certainly. "**Together**."

Sakura blushed and a smile spread across her face. "Alright…together."

She laughed breathlessly as the most heart melting _**smile**_ broke Neji's face. The fire crackled gently. Outside, the thunder could be heard only as a distant, muffled rumble. The lightning had weakened to the point where the small fire offered more light. The deluge still fell, but with the wind slacking up, the downpour became more soothing than threatening.

Sakura's eyes began to itch with sleep and she vainly tried to blink the sleep away, but with each blink her lids got heavier and heavier. Within seconds she found herself stretched out along the rocks her head resting on her book bag. The fire continued and she heard a faint rumble of thunder and gravel crunching under light footsteps. She opened her eyes once more and they quickly drooped shut. But not before she saw Neji approaching her, and felt a wall of warmth as he gently laid his shirt on top of her.

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**Aaaaaannnnddd iiiiit's aaaa NejiSaku overload from here on out folks. Hope you're ready for it! Well duh you are…or else you wouldn't be reading the story. Duh me! XD**

**M'kay, so did you like it, let me know what you think please by clicking the review button- it'll be your bestest buddy!! (Oh and I will too. Haha) And if that position is already filled, well R&R anyway please.**

**The next update should be soon despite all the crap my teachers have given me because I've got 85-90 percent of the chapter written out, I just have to type it/edit it. (You think I should try to spend time in class listening to the teacher even though he can't teach and bores me to death? Oh you don't either? Good! So I guess I won't, and now I don't feel guilty that the majority of Chapter 16 was written in his class! You guys work wonders for my conscience! Hahaha). I'll give it until next Saturday, hopefully earlier**

**Anyway, yeah, R&R please!!!**

**See ya soon! xoxoxoxoxo**


	16. Tastes Like Chicken

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So it's Saturday, and as promised, here's Chapter 16.

**Thank you! ****Thanks! Muchas Gracias! ****Domo Arigatou****! ****Grazie! Merci beaucoup! ****Spasibo! Muito obrigado! Gratia! Kamsa hamnida! Toda raba! Mahalo! Euxaristw! Danke schon! Dank je wel! Tak! Dekuju! Thanky! Xie-xie! Doh jeh! Yakoke! Orkun! Me daas! **

**(ALL THAT MEANS THANK YOU SOOOOO MUCH FOR THE REVIEWS!!! Oh, and if I forgot your language/misspelled it, please do not get mad/offended, for I am not a linguist. Hee hee!)**

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**Disclaimer: Seriously guys, I'm not sure on the exact number of chapters in this here story, but is it **_**really**_** necessary for me to tell you that I don't own Naruto every time? Huh? Is it?!?! **

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The next morning, the sky was a bright blue and birds circled around, as if surveying last night's damage. The ground was wet. Soaked. But other than that, conditions were just fine for traveling.

Sakura woke up first and moaned lightly as she sat up in the cavern. Neji- who, unbeknownst to Sakura, spent one-third of the night tending the fire and the other two-thirds watching Sakura sleep- was propped against a few of the large rocks. His mouth was open slightly and he was breathing heavily in slumber. The fire set between them had nearly burned out; there was the smallest hint of a flame and some of the ashes were still aglow, but other than that, it was just a smoke pile.

There was a stack of grass and sticks beside the fire so whenever the storm had let up last night Neji must have went out for wood. Some of the fuel was damp, but after sitting overnight and being so close to the flames, the majority of it was dry. Four and a half flyers were left, and Sakura took the half paper and ripped off a fourth and held the small piece of paper to the fire allowing it to catch and flare up to her fingertips just before dropping it in the pile. She then carefully shifted around the ashes, burnt paper, and foliage in order to make to most of their fuel, and then added another fourth of paper into the stack.

She didn't restart the fire for warmth- it was now about seventy something degrees outside- but for cooking instead. She wanted to have breakfast waiting for Neji because she knew he was probably tired; the fire didn't sustain itself all night.

She looked inside her backpack which was much more organized now that those dozens of crumpled papers had been removed. Inside was her meal that Mizuma had prepared for her. She knew that Neji hadn't eaten his, but she didn't want to heat his up just incase he was saving it for later.

She walked out of the opening and stood on the plateau overlooking what seemed to be a canyon within the mountains. The terrain wasn't what she'd expected it to be. Initially, she thought they were surrounded by nothing but rocks, but the ground below that was no more than ten feet down was a mixture of rocks and, oddly enough way off in the distance, soil and grass could be seen. They had traveled to the brim of the mountains- right where it ran into the forest. Sakura accurately judged that the image was the entrance to the forest and further more, judged that with no bodies of water nearby that housed fish, it was their only chance of meat for breakfast.

She walked back inside and fastened her weapon pouch around her, then hurried off into the forest, planning to return before Neji awoke and the fire died. It only took her about ten minutes to get there, get food, and get back. She was lucky to find a flock of birds nesting in the trees- believing that the calm weather brought safety. They were wrong, and Sakura's kunai piercing four of them was proof of that. She remorsefully ran to collect her game.

"Sorry little birdies," she pouted as she held their dead bodies up by their wings and looked at them sorrowfully, "but Neji's gotta eat."

After returning to the cave, she quickly de-feathered and cleaned out the birds, then hid it all behind a pile of rocks and from Neji's sight. She pierced through them each with sticks she'd found in the forest and propped them up into the fire, using the ashes and rocks to keep them in place.

Neji smelt the food and woke up just as Sakura was moving the birds to the edge of the fire to keep them warm since they had finished roasting.

"Sakura?" he asked somewhat sleepily as he looked at her, hard at work finishing up breakfast.

"Morning." She smiled cheerfully, barely blushing as she looked into his amazing pearl white eyes.

"When did you wake?"

"Not too long ago. I fixed us breakfast." She took picked up one of the birds and handed it to Neji.

"Is that…a bird?" Neji asked, not ungratefully, as he took the stick and examined the cooked specimen on it.

"Don't ask. Just eat."

"Ah…" Neji nodded, eyeing the bird. He held it and watched Sakura. She held her breakfast in her hand and avoided looking at Neji. He cleared his throat and she instinctively looked in his direction. He looked at her pointedly.

"I'm waiting for it to cool down, ya know?" Sakura nodded, fanning her food with one hand while holding it in the other.

"Ah…" Neji repeated with yet another nod. A few minutes passed by and Neji was still staring at Sakura; he hadn't budged. Finally she sighed angrily.

"Alright, fine!" And with that she took the first bite. Neji watched her chew and swallow. "Okay, so fish would've been better and I don't know what kind of bird this is, but it's food and it doesn't taste too bad."

She heard him laugh quietly. "Of course. Thank you for the breakfast Sakura."

And they both settled down to eat.

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"So are you ready to look for the others?" Sakura asked as she stood up and stretched after breakfast.

Neji nodded. "Yes, let's."

As Sakura got her things prepared, Neji couldn't help but watch her. She was _beautiful_.

They both were at ease, thanks a lot to last night's conversation, but he'd taken a bold step in saying that the two should be together, and he knew that he had to step up to the plate and prove to her that he really did care for her.

Sakura hoisted her now light bag on her back and smiled at Neji who had just put out the campfire.

"Ready?" she asked.

Neji looked at her for a moment. He wasn't ready. While it was still the two of them, he wanted to just walk over to her take her in his arms and kiss her. Nothing rough. Nothing lustful. Just a sweet, innocent kiss, but he held back, because- after all- it was **him** who suggested that they take it slow and he didn't know if that kiss would be pushing it or not.

In the end, he held it in and suppressed a heavy sigh as he nodded. "I'll lead the way."

They carefully made their way down to normal ground and when they were there, Neji summoned his Byakugan and scanned the forest. The only noise for nearly a minute was the sound of birds chirping until finally Neji's eyes seemed to widen with satisfaction. "Found them."

Sakura smiled- a tinge of sadness to it. "Alright then…let's go."

Neji hesitated for a split second and then, with a wave of confidence, he reached for Sakura's hand and slipped hers in his. This caught Sakura by surprise and she looked at him, blushing and in shock. This wasn't like how he held her hand that night in the storm to make sure they didn't get separated. It was broad daylight. There was no danger. He did this because he **wanted** to.

Sakura gave a small smile and a blushing laugh and tightened her hand around Neji's. He turned in satisfaction, hiding his smile, and the two walked off to track down their teammates; not at all in a hurry.

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**Hey and for the record guys, I've got a paper to do and a few tests comin up over these next two weeks, so I'm not gonna say when I'll update, because I'm not sure. If it's not up by next Saturday then hopefully, I'll have Chapter 17 posted next-**_**next­**_** Saturday. If not, feel free to maim my teachers…I saw nothing. **

**Please please please R&R!!!! Haha I was gonna go all other languages here too, but I don't feel like it. XD**

**See ya soon! xoxoxoxoxo**


	17. Fingers Laced!

**TWELVE PAGES!!! CAN I GET A WOOT WOOT???? Haha! But yeah, here's Chapter 17. I know I explained to you guys about the homework thing, so you know that's why it took so long. **

**And for the record, thanks a BUNCH for the reviews and thanks SOOOOOOOOO much for being so understanding. You guys are awesome and for that…..drum roll please…YOU GET COOKIES!!! YAY!!!! (Hands you all cookies) psst…and don't worry, I can cook/bake! XD**

**Bueno…on with the show!!!!...er, or…story. **

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**Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto. But I **_**did**_** own those cookies I gave you all. But now…since I gave them to ya'll…I don't own them anymore. So sadly, I own nothing.**

* * *

When the newfound couple approached their separated comrades, Sakura half expected for Neji to drop her hand, but he surprised her by not even twitching and they both surprised the trio greatly.

Ten Ten's bright brown eyes widened momentarily and then she let out an ear splitting squeal. She ran for Sakura and wrapped her arms around her neck, jumping up and down. It was only then that Neji released Sakura's hand and Lee took the opportunity to walk a little closer to his teammate and surreptitiously shoot a questioning glance towards Sakura. Neji acted as if he'd asked a simple, everyday question and merely nodded, waiting for Ten Ten to finally let go of his girlfriend.

Naruto still stood where Lee initially was- watching the scene before him with an agape jaw. Ten Ten finally let Sakura go and Lee patted Neji on the back and hugged Sakura as well.

"Good for you both!" he beamed and Ten Ten excitedly nodded.

"All right, we're reunited now. Let's continue on to the Leaf." Neji announced, slightly flustered by all the unnecessary attention their relationship had received- mainly from Ten Ten.

"Yeah, but where Naru…oh." Sakura's sentence trailed off when she saw her blonde haired teammate still rooted to the ground and overcome with shock. She bit her lower lip nervously.

"Naruto?" Sakura took a half step towards the stupefied young man, and slowly he blinked, as if just coming to terms with reality. Slowly he began nodding his head and Sakura just let it sink in his mind in silence. Finally, he walked to her. His brows were knitted together and he looked shocked and confused, but he wrapped his arms around the pink haired lady in a tight hug.

When he finally pulled away, a slow, uncertain smile spread across his face.

"C-congratulations, Sakura?" He stammered out. "Uh…yeah, I…I didn't see this one coming."

The blonde scratched his hair and stared at the ground in thought for a moment before finally throwing his hand up in the air and shrugging.

"Ah, whatever! I'm happy for ya! You too Neji." He beamed hugging Sakura again.

"And hey!" he added, his arm still around Sakura's shoulder, but his gaze at Neji. "I'm watching you. Don't make her cry…Hands above the waist…All that good stuff.-I'll take you on Neji."

A small smirk appeared on Neji's lips and he gave a short, amused laugh. "Hn."

Sakura rolled her eyes, "Thanks Naruto," she laughed hugging him again. She knew that Naruto was now dating Hinata and no longer liked her as he had when they were children. Instead, their relationship had altered from a one-sided childhood crush to an unbreakable brother-sister bond.

"Very well!" Lee pumped his fist into the air. "_**Now**_ we are ready to leave!"

* * *

The response of the villagers back in the Leaf was as uncomfortable as Ten Ten's, Naruto's, and Lee's.

Hyperactive blonde tearing down busy streets with an insatiable appetite for Ichiraku's ramen? Normal.

Lanky, bowl haired shinobi and double bun haired brunette strolling along with arms linked and subtly exchanging flirty gestures? Normal.

The legendary Neji Hyuuga and the established medic-nin Sakura Haruno proceeding to the Hokage's tower, fingers laced? Deserving of disbelieving stares and triple takes from _**every**_ inhabitant of the village.

Sakura's felt Neji's hand tighten against hers- possibly in agitation- and she reciprocated- in reassurance. The two continued on to the tower; Neji so he could file the mission report, and Sakura to talk to Lady Tsunade about her schedule for next week which the Hokage had told her before she left was only tentatively planned.

They forked paths when Sakura reached the Hokage's office. She was tired and ready to go home, but the two chunnin beside the door told Sakura that the Hokage was in a meeting and it'd be a ten to fifteen minute wait for a no more than one minute matter. Sakura nodded, sighed, and slid down the wall and rested her head between her knees.

In about ten minutes exactly, the door of the office opened and out waltzed an elderly, distinguished man; a visitor from the looks of it. He coolly strode from the office and, seeing the pink hair peaking from the doorframe, Tsunade called Sakura in. Sakura rose from the floor and entered the room.

"Good evening, I came for my schedule."

"Oh right," Tsunade muttered. She seemed just as drained Sakura.

"So how was the mission?" Tsunade asked, searching through her desk.

Sakura let heavy exhale and the Hokage let out and understanding chuckle. "Hope you five didn't have to do too much grunt work. You know you each were the only available ones, that's why you all received the mission."

Sakura shot Lady Tsunade a "yeah right" look and the older woman laughed. "Oh, come on now, I'm sure it wasn't all that bad."

"Yeah, and I'm sure you might wanna change my name to 'Unappreciated Pack Mule.' "

" --'The second,' " The Hokage joked in reference to Sakura's name. The blonde lady was still rummaging around, no longer seated. "Well the aftereffects were worth it though right?"

Sakura quirked a brow in confusion. Lady Tsunade paused hunting and a slow knowing smirk spread across her rosy, glossed lips. "Neji."

Sakura's widened in astonishment. "H-how do you know about that already?"

"Oh please Sakura, I'm the Hokage." Tsunade responded with a nonchalant wave of hand. Then she fell back into her seat. "And when the Hokage's prodigy and prodigy of the Hyuuga clan walk into the village hand-in-hand, you'd better believe the whole village's gonna know about it within a few minutes."

"B-but weren't you in a meeting?" Sakura stammered, still confused.

Lady Tsunade shrugged her shoulders. "I have my methods."

Sharp fingernails drummed against the hardwood desk and the Hokage clucked her tongue in frustration. That was the only noise offered for awhile until Ton Ton came wading in with a folded up piece of paper in his mouth.

"Aha!" Hazel eyes illuminated. "Thanks Ton Ton! Thanks Shizune!"

"Now," the blonde turned toward Sakura, handing her the paper, "here you are. And for the record, nice catch. I gotta admit, I've had a tough time picturing Neji with anyone. Not because I didn't think he was a good suitor, but it was hard to…I don't know. Either way, I can tell that you two'll make a good couple."

Sakura nodded and smiled. "Thanks."

"Just don't expect to see much of each other for awhile!" Tsunade called as Sakura closed the door. The pink haired female was initially confused until she unfolded her schedule. Her eyes bugged wide and she groaned. Double headers. Overtime. Extended hours. Next week would be nonstop work for the kunoichi.

Just as she was walking the door, Neji came walking up the hall. She paused and waited for him.

"Did you get your schedule?"

"Unfortunately," Sakura groaned handing him the paper. He looked at it and winced slightly.

"I see you'll be busy."

"Tell me about it." Sakura sighed. It was silent for a few seconds.

"Are you on your way home?" Neji asked and Sakura nodded. "May I walk you?"

Sakura smiled. "All right."

The streets were aglow with the golden, setting sun. The two walked in silence, side by side. When they arrived at Sakura's doorstep, Neji scratched his shoulder, a tad uncomfortably.

"Thanks," Sakura smiled gently.

"It was my pleasure," Neji responded. He leaned down and tenderly kissed Sakura's cheek. Her face flushed and she smiled.

"Goodnight."

"Goodnight, Sakura." Neji smiled slightly back. She turned and unlocked the door and gave him a quick hug before disappearing inside.

* * *

That night while Neji lay awake in his bed, he reflected over the past three days. He was pleased with the outcome. He'd talked with Sakura and everything seemed alright between them.

Still, Neji knew he'd have to step him game up. Coming into the relationship, Sakura full well knew Neji's personality and he knew this. She knew that he wasn't the most gregarious, compassionate, or talkative guy in world, but nonetheless, she liked him and wanted to be with him. But Neji refused to use this as an excuse. He vowed to put forth an effort to make his girlfriend happy.

So he resolved that tomorrow, he'd ask her out for a little Saturday night dinner date; after all, it was probably the only time he'd be able to spend with her for another week.

* * *

"Sakura! Open up!" There was a banging outside of Sakura's front door loud enough to wake the dead.

"Dammit Sakura, I know you hear me! Open the fuckin door!" Sakura rolled over in her bed and looked at the clock. One thirty in the morning. _What the hell was __**wrong**__ with people?_

"Op-en the damn door!" the pounding reverberated with each syllable and Sakura stormed sleepily from her bed to her front door, jerking it open.

"What the hell do you want Pig?" She growled groggily as she opened the door. Ino stormed in- face red, flustered.

"You little sneak!" she accused, pointing a finger at Sakura and backing her into the room. Sakura rolled her eyes and lethargically pushed Ino's finger off her shoulder.

"What the hell are you talking about?"

"Oh, OH!" Ino scoffed indignantly. "Like you **don't** know. You and Neji, huh? Oh that's nice Sakura, real nice. And just why the hell wasn't I informed, huh? **Huh**? Go ahead, I'm listening."

Ino walked over to the couch and plopped down; spreading her arms across the back, crossing her legs, and looking at Sakura expectantly. Sakura rolled her eyes yet again and turned and walked off to her bedroom, calling over her shoulder, "You did know. That night at the pub, remember?"

Ino shot from the couch, and in a matter off seconds she was in front of Sakura- blocking her from entering her bedroom. "_Nooo_, that night you told me you _**liked**_ Neji- and lest we forget, I had to** pry** that outta you. But now…_now_ I come home from a mission and I hear the two of you are _**dating**_? What the fuck is up with that Sakura? What the _fuck_ is up?"

Sakura slapped her face into her hands and shook her head hopelessly. "Ino, it _**just**_ happened. I didn't tell anyone- they saw us when we walked into the village---"

"_Fingers laced._" Ino interrupted pointedly. Sakura sighed.

"_Fingers laced_. Anyway, they saw us, and the next thing we know, it's spread around like wildfire! I went to get my schedule from Lady Tsunade and she already knew. How? I have no fucking clue, but either way, it was out to the whole village."

"And were you _ever_ gonna tell me?" Ino asked, feigning a voice broken with hurt. Sakura laughed in disbelief.

"_**Yes**_, I was, but I knew you were on a mission because I heard some chuunin at the tower talking about it, so I was going to have to tell you later on today."

"How much later?" Ino asked with an accusing, quirked brow. Her lip was still jutted out in "pain" from being uninformed.

"Once I woke up this morning. You know: my normal time? Usually _**after**_ the sun comes up."

Ino sighed. "Fine, Forehead. I'll let it slide- but just this once!"

"Thank you!" Sakura sighed, pushing her blonde friend out of the way and walking eagerly to her bed.

"Oh and Sakura!" Ino called out as her pink haired friend settled under the covers, Sakura didn't bother to even look at her as she let out a sleepy, "Hmm?"

A big, perverted smirk snaked on Ino's lips. "You _**know**_ you're gonna have to tell me how good it is, right?"

Sakura let out a short laugh, but hid it with the covers. "Lock the door on your way out." She muttered sleepily before falling asleep.

* * *

At around ten fifteen that morning, Sakura heard a knocking at her door. She growled to herself.

"Ino…"

As she walked out of her bedroom, she was surprised to find that her blonde headed friend had taken it upon herself to stay the night and was slumbering comfortably upon the couch. One of the spare covers that Sakura kept in the hallway closet was draped contentedly around her.

"Well who the hell could that be?" Sakura wondered aloud as she walked to the door, which thankfully Ino had remembered to lock, and cracked it open.

Outside, she found a treat worth waking up for.

"Neji," she gasped in shock when she saw the incredibly attractive Hyuuga poised outside her door.

"I'm sorry, did I wake you?" Neji apologized when he saw Sakura. Sakura hid her fright as she realized that she (even though she did) probably looked as if she'd just rolled out the bed. And on top of that, she hadn't even brushed her teeth and washed up yet. Can you say morning breath?

"Oh, no, no, it's okay. I would've been up in a few minutes anyway." Sakura waved Neji off. She bit her bottom lip as she spoke- trying to keep as much of her breath as she could from fanning out.

"Well, I won't keep you…I was just curious as to whether or not you wished to accompany me to a dinner engagement this evening."

It was early. Too early. And Sakura's brain wasn't awake enough to quickly process what Neji had just said. She stared at him blankly for a few moments, slowly going over his sentence in her mind. When she comprehended, her eyes widened slightly, figuring that Neji must be mistaking her delayed response for a 'no.' Sakura knew Neji must have been nervous or uncomfortable asking her, because even the Hyuuga- proper as he may be- never spoke _that_ formally.

The ever so slightest, barely visible tinge of pink graced Neji's unusually pale skin as he waited with inward anxiousness for Sakura's answer. _Would she just hurry up and answer him?_

Finally, she smiled. "I'd love to Neji."

A relieved and pleased smile tugged at the corners of Neji's mouth. "All right, I'll come by at seven to get you. Know where you'd like to go; it's your choice, my treat."

Sakura nodded. "Okay. Hey, uh, do you wanna come in? Ino's crashing on the couch, but you can just ignore her."

Neji laughed. "No thank you. Lee's asked me to spar with him this morning. I'm actually on my way over there now."

Sakura smiled. "All right then, I'll see you tonight?"

"Of course,"he gave a slight courteous nod back before they hugged each other goodbye. Sakura carefully closed the front door and turned around with a blissful sigh.

"Sakura, Sakura, Sakura." Ino clucked, hugging the warm covers closer to her. Sakura's head snapped to her friend. _When the hell did she wake up?_

"Just shut up Ino," Sakura sighed, not even wanting to hear what her friend had to say. Ino popped up and wrapped the blanket around her shoulders, jerking her head for Sakura to sit beside her.

"What? I think it's cute!" Ino defended honestly as her friend sat down. "I can tell he really likes you."

"You read too far into things Ino," Sakura shook her head, refusing to believe her friend's words.

"Whatever, you _know_ it's true, you just don't wanna admit it. Think about it: who have you _ever_ seen Neji act like that around? Huh? I'll answer that: **nobody**. Hell, I was tempted to jump up and look out the door just to see if that really _was_ Neji standing out there---"

"Okay Ino, okay. You've made your point." Sakura groaned fighting a blush.

"Haha, and then he's all 'it's _your_ choice- my treat.' Ha! Oh my gosh Sakura! You'd **better** not screw this one up!"

"Thanks Ino," Sakura drawled sarcastically.

"No problem. Now come on, we've gotta pick you out something tonight."

"Ino," Sakura groaned sinking back into the couch. It was like déjà vu all over again, but this time with a loud, obnoxious blonde. "What good is Neji if he won't accept me the way I am?"

"No good. Anybody who would accept _you_ the way you are is no good. Besides, you didn't see to think that way that night at the pub. Now come on!"

Sakura rolled her eyes, ignoring her friend's playful banter and unenthusiastically followed the blonde into the room.

* * *

Neji arrived _**exactly**_on time that evening. Sakura, dressed in black wide leg pant jumper with a halter top, went to answer the door. Ino had pressed to get her friend in a skirt, but Sakura said no gas.

Neji smiled when he saw her. "You look beautiful." She smiled back.

"Thanks. You clean up pretty well yourself," Sakura joked.

"_Pretty_ well?" Neji smirked. Sakura laughed. She loved the rare, playful side of Neji.

"_**Very**_ well." She clarified, placing a kiss on his chin.

The couple was going to go to Ichiraku's for dinner, but Neji- seeing that Sakura was attempting to be frugal- coaxed her against it, and in the end, they ended up dining at a lovely, seafood and barbeque restaurant that Sakura loved- located in the middle of town.

Dinner went lovely, and Sakura enjoyed herself even more than she initially thought she would. Neji tried his best to be conversational while Sakura tried her best to be unnaturally proper and refined (attempting to make up for that morning).

About halfway through dinner, they both became conscious their foolishness and realized that they each only wanted for the other person to act like themselves. Neji (who no longer felt so compelled to make small talk) allowed Sakura to carry on the bulk of the conversation. And she was just fine with that. Silence between them bothered neither one of the two because they each knew it was a comfortable silence. Both were fine with the fact that sometimes, Sakura would bring up a conversation and Neji would respond occasionally in a way that carried on a conversation and sometimes in a non cold, short way that may have equaled the end of it. Sakura, on the other hand, realized that Neji didn't expect for her to be all prim, proper, and super model gorgeous. He was just find with the soft spoken, quick tempered, well mannered, plain yet beautiful female sitting across from him.

After they each came to such realizations, everything went wonderfully. After dinner, Neji took Sakura to the park where the two of them walked hand in and among the trees. Sakura looked up into the deep, infinitely starry night.

Sakura sighed happily. "Oh wow, it's so…"

"Beautiful." Neji finished quietly. But it wasn't the sky he was looking at. Sakura turned to see his gorgeous, pearly white eyes casted softly down on her. Vainly, she fought a blush, and neither on of the two noticed that they'd stopped walking.

"…I'm glad you decided to come tonight." Neji confessed hesitantly, gently tucking a loose strand of hair behind Sakura's ear.

"Me too," she smiled delicately. "I…I really like spending time with you Neji."

Neji couldn't help but smile.

"I enjoy being around you as well, Sakura."

Sakura let out a blushing smile and coyly dropped her bright emerald eyes to the ground. The slightest gasp came from her lips when she felt Neji's fingers tenderly stroking her chin before affectionately tilting her head up to lock their eyes. They gazed at one another for a few moments before Neji slowly began lowering his head. Sakura responded by stretching forward and they both moved farther and father until, ever so slightly, their lips brushed against one another's. They each applied a bit more pressure, softly pressing their lips together before pulling away slightly. Neji looked into Sakura's wide, trusting eyes, and dipped his head back down again. This time, their lips immediately found the others' and tenderly molded and worked their way one against the other. Neji slipped out his tongue and traced Sakura's bottom lip with it, and- with a slight moan- she didn't hesitate to respond. Their tongues slipped skillfully across each other's and in a little while Sakura began sucking gently on Neji's bottom lip, earning a moan. The couple kissed passionately for awhile longer until- after kissing each other breathless- they slowly pulled apart, gently pressing their lips together a few more times before breaking contact.

Their breaths were slightly heavier coming from their swollen, parted mouths, and the pair rested their foreheads together.

It was quiet for a few minutes as they both enjoyed each other's company until, upon seeing how late it was getting, Neji spoke.

"I'll walk you home." He whispered to Sakura, their foreheads still together. A small smile graced her lips and she nodded slightly.

"Okay."

Neji tilted his head slightly to press one more, small kiss on Sakura's lips before he took the female's hand in his and, together, they traveled through the night and back to Sakura's apartment.

* * *

**Nooooo…at said apartment, they did **_**NOT**_** have sex! (Just thought I'd throw that in there! Haha). M'tay so yeah, that was that for that chapter. I hopeth thou enjoyedeth it…eth. Hee hee.**

**Okay so yeah, that's that. Read and Review por favor!!!!! Thanks!**

**See ya soon! xoxoxoxoxo**


	18. So,um, this is love?

**Yeah, so I deeply apologize for the time lapse, it was waaaayy longer than I intended. Just so you know I wasn't just wasting life: the first week, was the usual, writing of the next chapter, then my Granddaddy was admitted into the hospital (he's been suffering from cancer for several years now) and in mid-May he passed away. We were VERY close and I was devastated. For probably a week (give or day a few days) I went through the whole denial, mourning, numbness thing and during that time, I didn't write at all. A few days after the funeral, me, my older sister, and one of our cousins went to stay with our Grandmother (his wife), because everyone was nervous about her being on her own (she wasn't crazy to a suicidal point so it wasn't like they put this huge burden on a two 17 year olds and a 19 year old. Plus I love spending time with her, so I didn't mind at all.) So I was there for awhile and towards the last few weeks I stayed there (I remained there through the beginning of July) I picked back up writing. She doesn't have the internet or anything, so I would just write in my notebook and I was thinking, "I oughta finish this story up. Forget updating one chapter at a time since they've been waiting long enough." At that time, I didn't get as much writing as I wanted done, because my sister was getting ready to go back to college, so the majority of the time it was just me, my Grandma, and my cousin, and the majority of the majority of that time, it was just me and my Grandma since my cousin tried to busy himself with fixing up around the house and the yard and anything else to keep from going to the store with us or talking about this and that. (Yeah, he gives guys who are trying to break that stereotype a bad name. Ha.) So I was about halfway finished when we went on a little family vacation before taking my sister back to school. Not much writing time then either. When I got back, I had a weeklong camp to help out at and the following Monday volleyball season started and eventually school, so there went my time. I wrote during down time and began typing the story, but soon after, my Abuelita (not the one whose husband died) was diagnosed with breast cancer. (I'm close to all of my grandparents so stuff like this doesn't tend to sit well with me.) Thankfully, it was caught early and was very small. She had to have surgery about a week later and for the majority of the time leading up to that, I stayed with her during my free time. The day after her surgery (which went well by the way) we found out that my cousin (her grandson and not the one who'd stayed at my Grandma's house with me) had been murdered. The funeral took place not too long ago. Now, everything's fine and I've FINALLY finished the story!**

**I really would like to thank you all for your patience and your reviews. It all means a lot to me! I hope you enjoy the story…I won't say anything further…**

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**Disclaimer:** Question: Kisekilotus, do you own Naruto? Answer: No.

* * *

In the time span of the six months that Neji and Sakura had been dating, the village had come to terms with the unforeseen relationship. Sakura and Neji had interestingly been dubbed as the Leaf's best suited and surprisingly cutest couple; ironically tying with their cousin and teammate. Many people also beginning noting the lighter mood that seemed to accompany Neji and they were relieved. It was as if Sakura was beginning to melt the ice sheet that some speculated had covered Neji's heart.

But it wasn't all cake and ice cream between the two geniuses. Arguments arose and sometimes things would get so heated between them that villagers would walk down the other side of the street when they saw Sakura storming down the sidewalk with a rosy, raged face; vibrant, emerald eyes set aflame in fury; and destructive hands clenched tight. And the villagers kept a safe three yard distance whenever Neji's naturally pallid face was tinged with the slightest pink; his clear, off white eyes exceedingly hard; his strong jaw set so tightly that the bones seemed ready to split and pierce through his cheek while his fine nose flared furiously. He'd take down the street with that dangerous air of seething anger radiating from his body and all of Konoha hoped whatever argument that the couple had gotten into would be over quickly.

Thankfully though, they were. With both Neji and Sakura being as mature and sensible they were, they found they could not only address and discuss problems relatively easily but also come to common ground- tolerance if not approval.

Naruto, Kiba, Ino, and Shikamaru were partially immune to Sakura and Neji's "post fight personalities" of the two, but the only one completely impervious was the Hokage herself. And today (after the duo was particularly bitter over a heated quarrel from last night) was no exception as she assembled the unspeaking Hyuuga and Haruno in her office.

* * *

_**Flashback: The Day Before**_

It had been a long day at the hospital. A large band of rogue ninja had been terrorizing neighboring villages, and unbeknownst to the Leaf, they had been closing in on their borders. A four man squad had been attacked on a mission abroad and as they returned the six man retrieval team- Shizune included- met trouble from the rogue nin.

The defeat of the Leaf ninja wasn't because they were out skilled, but rather because they were outnumbered and burdened with the four injured ninja from earlier. However, they reportedly managed to kill off the troublemakers despite receiving severe injuries.

Sakura had been awoken early at three thirty that morning by an infirmary clerk pounding on her apartment door. From that moment on, Sakura had been immersed at the hospital. Between having to resuscitate one of the ninja, stabilizing three, dealing with four in critical condition, and having to closely monitor the final two, Sakura found herself faced with a _**thirteen**_ hour job!

This wasn't even counting her other hospital duties: tending to her already present patients, having to see a few newcomers most of whom she passed along to whoever was available, and filing the condition reports. The four hour task was so overwhelming that Sakura had to remind herself to breathe.

She staggered into her home at eight thirty that night- completely exhausted. She was starving; having only eaten twice that day and it was only quick, snack-like meals that Tsunade had forced her to eat to make sure that her energy stayed up. Other than that and water, she'd eaten nothing else. Presently, she was deciding if her hunger weighed more than her exhaustion. She let out a yawn so deep that triggered her stomach to growl. Sighing, the drained kunoichi opted to grab a banana before turning in.

Officially, Tsunade had given her the next day off, but experience Sakura two things: First- never expect a "day off" from a hospital. Twenty four/seven, a medic nin was always on call. And second- even if one managed to go all day without being called in to the hospital, if one had patients already admitted in then the proper thing to do was always to stop by and check on them- at least once. And that's what Sakura planned on doing. It was also the reason Sakura remained at the hospital for an additional four hours despite Tsunade telling her she could leave.

Shizune was one of the two whose injuries weren't too bad, but she still wasn't well enough to return to the hospital for her regular hours. Lady Tsunade was already swamped with the tasks and paperwork of being Hokage (which was why she'd relied so heavily on Sakura to tend to the ambushed patients) and Sakura knew it was up to her to head the hospital.

Obviously, Tsunade had lined up someone capable to temporarily mind the hospital until either Shizune healed, the paperwork ebbed, or Sakura's day off was over. Still Sakura planned on stopping by for a moment just to check things out. It wasn't that she didn't trust the rest of the hospital team; they were all capable of taking on the task- especially Moegi who'd just come on as Sakura's intern and showed a lot of promise. But Sakura was still the kind of person who liked to finish up her patients on her own.

She looked at the clock; it was already a few minutes until nine. She knew she was going to be sleeping in late, so more that likely she wouldn't be at the hospital until around eleven…maybe even twelve.

With her banana finished, she tossed the peel into the trashcan and prepared to go to bed fully dressed when there was a knock on the door.

"Mmm…" Sakura sighed irritably. She didn't feel like company tonight- she was _exhausted_. She waited for a moment and when the knocking started again, she growled and went for the door. Jerking it open, she stood face to face with a steel eyed Neji- who'd just gotten home from a mission as long and tiring as Sakura's day at the hospital.

The woman didn't attempt to put on a smile, but she softened her tone a little as she sighed, "Hey Neji, I'm sorry, but I'm _really_ tired tonight…is there any way you could come by in the morn---"

"Why are you so tired?" Neji demanded unnaturally harshly. He hadn't meant for it to sound so rough, but he didn't care. And Sakura knew why: although Neji had only gotten home from his mission about five minutes ago, she knew he'd found out what had happened. Hinata had been one of the critically injured shinobi.

"She's fine Neji," Sakura reassured tiredly. Neji's eyes narrowed but not in anger. However, coupled with his next statement, the gesture did nothing positive for him.

"Yes I'm sure." Neji meant no harm by the comment, but with his voice still unconsciously carrying some of its earlier harshness, Sakura couldn't tell this.

"What?" she snapped, turning on Neji with hurt, angry eyes.

"I said I'm sure she's in good hands." Neji restated.

"Yeah, but it's _how_ you said it." Sakura countered.

This was not good. Both were tired and irritable and their nerves were sensitive at the moment, and subconsciously they both knew this (just as Sakura inwardly knew that Neji's comment wasn't said in malice and Neji knew he should've respected Sakura's wishes and left in the beginning). Nevertheless, the argument drove on with seemingly unstoppable force. For ten minutes the verbal battle ensued; fueled on by Neji's irascibility from his stressful and laborious day long mission and by Sakura's irritable fatigue from the events that had gone on at the hospital.

The argument had turned into a kick the dog battle and both were faced with dogs so on edge that kicking back was not a problem. It became a never ending cycle and soon, neither party had any idea what the argument had to do with. Emotions and tempers climbed sky high until, finally, it all exploded.

"That's enough Sakura, shut up!"

"Who the hell are you talking too?" Sakura shrieked back.

"There's only one person in this room named Sakura," Neji snarled back. "You're getting ridiculous."

"Well if I'm so ridiculous, why the fuck did you ask me out in the first place?" she screamed before turning around.

"I wonder that everyday," Neji's response was caustic and low. Sakura froze and turned slowly to face him. Their gazes locked for a moment before Sakura spoke with a harsh broken whisper.

"Get out."

Neji's pearl eyes broke hold from Sakura's glistening green ones and he dropped his gaze to the floor. His structured jaw tightened but it was too late for him to keep his mouth closed. Wordlessly, Neji turned from the suddenly stuffy kitchen and walked out the door, softly closing it behind him.

Back inside, Sakura finally undammed her tears as her shaking, balled up body crashed to the floor.

_**End Flashback**_

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"Neji, Sakura, you two have a mission." Lady Tsunade barked to the two bodies literally standing as far away as possible from each other.

"Yes ma'am?" Sakura nodded, confused as to why there was only the two of them to be assigned.

Tsunade observed the way Sakura kept holding her arms across her stomach and the way Neji kept clenching and unclenching his fist while every now and then biting the inside corner of his mouth. She watched as they avoided eye contact at all cost (Sakura looked back and forth between Tsunade, the ceiling, the floor and her hands while Neji looked straight out the window never breaking his gaze even if the Hokage spoke specifically to him) and knew immediately that they had gotten in a fight. But she had no other options; this mission required the Byakugan and possible medical attention and with Hinata recovering from her injuries, Hanabi off on a mission, and Shizune needed at the hospital, she had no choice. But, no matter, these were jonin level shinobi she was dealing with- they knew to just tough it out and she had no doubt that Sakura and Neji wouldn't let their personal matters interfere with the mission. At least they'd better not unless they wanted to answer to her. Besides, this mission might force the two into some much needed talking time.

Tsuande let out a resigned sigh and placed her palms flat on the desk. "Alright kiddies…get ready for your assignment."

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**Seriously you guys, do you have **_**any**_** idea how hard it was to find something strong to cause Sakura and- mainly- Neji to get into such a heated argument. With Sakura, I figured I could manage with whatever the conflict was as long as she had an equally irate arguing partner, but Neji…he made it so bloody hard because he's not really the arguing type so that gave Sakura less to feed off of. I tried my best guys, hope I delivered. I came up with the idea because that's something mi madre (my Daddy too actually) always says "It's not what you said, it's how you said it." Then I just went from there. So if you sensed some OOCness, then I apologize; I tried so please don't flame for it! XD **

**Read and review I beg of you! **

**See ya soon! xoxoxoxoxo**


	19. Giro? Ginko!

**Read on wholesome reader, read on!**

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**Disclaimer: Yep I sure do own Naruto, just like I own post it notes, a detailed copy of NASA's plot to explore Neptune, and a brontosaurus that with the help of Phineas and Ferb, I went back in time, freeze dried and brought to live in my room with me. His name's Binky. He's nice. **

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Only the whooshing in their ears offered any noise as the two leapt from tree to tree out of the village. It was sunny. Bright. Cheerful. But inside, each of the two, it was turbulent. Surprisingly, they stayed side by side; Neji about half a step ahead. For a split second, one of them would steal a glance at the other. Sakura's face was sorrowful. Her usually bright eyes were troubled and locked directly ahead. Her mouth had the slightest frown on it. Neji's face was tight- tight and stoic- all except for his eyes. His brown eyebrows were pulled tight over the pearls that were clouded with remorse.

Gratefully, Tsuanade's mission was quick and hopefully easy. They were to return to the village from long ago (the one that Sakura, Naruto, Shikamaru, and Kiba had visited) because supposedly another group of thugs had infiltrated the town. The new harassers were "equally as powerful as the first and twice as terrifying." None of the townspeople were able to exactly identify where these thugs could be found which was where the Byakugan came in. And the messenger stated that some of the residents had been injured by this group. The wounds were indentified as "too severe" for their medical staff and the town offered to pay extra for more medical assistance; which was where Sakura came into play.

As they approached their destination, Neji slowed to a stop and Sakura followed suit. Unsurprisingly, neither one had said anything. Finally, Neji took a deep breath, blinked a few times and spoke at the same as Sakura.

"What happened the last time?--"

"Naruto took all six out--"

They both broke off and looked at one another before quickly looking away. Neji, pinked face and eyes fixed on a tree root, spoke first. "You were saying?"

"Last time we came there were six guys. Bulky and meaty yeah, but they were just brute force- if _that_. Naruto took them down in thirty seconds. Nobody in that village is a ninja and for the most part they're either very old or very young. There's only a handful of young to middle aged adults. It wouldn't be surprising if the townspeople overestimate the power of whoever these people are."

Neji took in what had just been said and scanned their surroundings for a second. Leading into the town was groove of bushes. "Let's go."

Then he turned, hesitated, and faced Sakura. "Sakura…" he began, but no more words could make their way out. Sakura shook her head quickly and stepped around Neji.

"We should go. The townspeople are expecting us." Her back was to him, but she had stopped walking, waiting for him to reassume the lead. He stared at her back for a few seconds before letting out a heavy sigh and heading towards the town.

The two snuck in and slunk around the back roads, searching for any sign of the thugs. The fact that it was broad daylight worked both against them and for them; it helped that they could see a lot easier, but it hurt that they were a lot easier to see. Though the streets were fairly deserted, the duo took the necessary precautions. They would have just played the role of regular townsfolk taking a walk down the street, but that would have been even more of a risk. The town was too small and everyone knew one another by name. People also didn't just pass through the town; there was a path purposely leading around the village with a sign saying a hotel was about a quarter of a mile off in another nearby town.

"The house we're supposed to go to is around the block, we have to go across the street."

Neji nodded. "Alright."

They crept to the corner of the building and Neji peered around. No one was in sight. Still keeping eye, Neji quietly waved his hand and quicker than lightning, Sakura shoot from the building, darted across the street and perched behind the shop there. Affirming that everything was secure, Sakura waved Neji over and in a matter of two and a half seconds, the entire move had been complete. The two started off for the house- Sakura first, Neji behind her. When they arrived, they crept around to the back door. Sakura prepared to knock, but Neji stopped her.

"I'll go first, in case it's a trap."

Sakura nodded wordlessly and let her now trembling hand drop to her side. It was simply because Neji needed her to stay safe for the mission's sake…his action had nothing to do with how he felt for her personally. At least that was what Sakura kept telling herself.

Neji knocked twice on the door and Sakura stood off to the side holding her breath. Finally the door cracked open and a watery, black eye peeped out.

"Giro?" Neji asked cautiously. The eye drifted upwards to Neji's headband and his dark eye started to twinkle.

"Ginko." Ginko corrected as planned in the correspondence. He threw the door wide open while happily whispering, "You're the Leaf shinobi…is it just you?"

He added the last part nervously, starting to usher Neji in, but the young man outstretched his hand for Sakura who took it. He led her into the doorway.

"No. I am Neji and this is Sakura." The two entered the home occupied solely by the old man.

"Yes, yes. I am Ginko," the man nodded. "Perfect timing too! That mentally disturbed tyrant is at the pub. He's been there for at least half an hour and is probably sinfully drunk by now."

"So do you think we should strike now? His reactionary senses have got to be cut in half at this point." Sakura wondered aloud. Neji thought.

"Is there only one?" Neji asked. "We were told there was a pack."

Ginko's eyes fell down. "It was the only way…for us to get you to come."

"We understand," Sakura reassured quickly, afraid of giving Neji time to react. "But for the success of this mission, we'll need you to be completely honest from here on."

Ginko nodded quickly. "Absolutely and in my defense, there are three…there's just only one who ever comes out and does any damage. We're safe from his subordinates-the other two-as long as we stay out of the forest, and everyone has. They have."

"So one man caused so much damage to your villagers that you needed a medic nin?" Sakura asked in with brows raised in wonder. Ginko laughed sheepishly.

"Oh that's the last thing," he started, scratching his fleshy, wrinkled nose. "She's for you. Good luck." Ginko gave Neji a slight nod and Neji simply stared at him- eyes slightly narrowed as he took it all in.

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**R&R!!!!**

**See ya soon! xoxoxoxoxo**


	20. Give It To Me Straight

**Boogalaboogalaboo!!!!!**

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**Disclaimer:** I do not not not not not not not own Naruto.

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Much to Neji's distain, the two lost a lot of time waiting for Ginko to re-brief them.

"We've already wasted enough time," Neji unconsciously hissed as he and Sakura left Ginko's home. They crept within the stifling heat of the early afternoon and found themselves farther and farther from the heart of the town and deeper and deeper into the woods.

"I know," Sakura sighed back. "But if we hadn't gone over the details again, we could've missed crucial information. We had no idea what Ginko was lying about anymore, and honestly, I think he forgot some stuff t--"

Neji's hand shot out and stopped Sakura's whisper in its tracks. He held his hand in the air and ushered them quickly behind a wall of tall, thick and prickly bushes. The two froze tensely and silently withstood the pricks as a thickly built, well seasoned man appeared from the forest. He obliviously continued on, only about a meter in front of them. During that days briefing, Ginko had described a man who they would probably encounter in the forest. His name was Yokoue and he could easily be identified by the tip of his right ear which had been burned as a child. Although he was harmless, Ginko advised they avoided Yokoue since he often relayed messages back and forth between the town and the forest in order to keep the usurpers up to date on town activities. It was all an effort to keep himself and his family safe.

When he was finally a safe distance away, the two shot from the bushes; a light flow of blood seeped from various parts on their bodies and a couple of thorns were still stuck in their skin. They hurried along while picking out thorns. Ginko had warned them not to run through the forest because there was the possibility that no matter how sharp the eyes, the area would be so furtively booby trapped that they could end up dying before even facing off with the bandit. So far, they had managed alright.

Neji turned and looked back at Sakura struggling to get a grip on the slender splinter inconveniently stuck in her thumb. Just when Sakura exasperatedly resolved to try to push it into her finger, Neji stopped, took her hand and gently squeezed her thumb with two fingers while plucking out the splinter with the other hand.

The two stopped walking- Neji still had Sakura's hand within his. His grip tightened for a split second before he spoke softly.

"I apologize…I didn't know the bush had thorns."

Sakura blushed and felt her hand clamming up. She blinked quickly and shook her head while carefully taking her suddenly trembling hand from Neji's.

"N-no, i-it's fine I mean, I mean you didn't know…you know?" she walked around him quickly and stopped, hiding her flushed face. Neji opened his mouth to say something, closed it, opened it again, then closed it with a suppressed sigh. He walked up beside Sakura and their strides fell in alignment as they continued on side by side.

A few paces later, Sakura spoke softly, "Are we sure about this?"

Neji felt suddenly anxious. "What?"

"This mission," Sakura continued. Neji felt his pulse return to normal. "It's starting to sound…shady. And what if Yokoue saw us come in and he was just telling that guy."

"I know," Neji agreed with a heavy sigh. "But what choice do we have?"

Sakura bit her lip then asked suddenly, "Are we still on course?"

Neji nodded. "We should be arriving in less than ten minutes."

Sakura nodded and in exactly seven and a half minutes, they came upon a spacious wooden manor.

"Byakugan!" Neji hissed. The Hyuuga began scanning the entire perimeter. "There's no security. Not one guard to be found."

"Maybe it's because there's really no opposition here." Sakura offered. "Do you see anyone at all?"

Neji nodded slowly. "Five of them- three are just standing there…two are dead."

"So there was a group…What do we do?"

"Let's go," Neji ordered in disconcert. They crept around to the back of the house where a door leading into a dimly lit room was cracked open.

"I don't like this Neji…" Sakura whispered. Sakura was surprised and reassured when Neji brushed his fingertips across her hand.

"I'll go in first." He said turning as if nothing had happened. Neji snuck through the door and emerged safely on the other side. After taking a good look around, he waved Sakura. She skeptically entered the room, on her guard for any attack that might be thrown at them.

In a bright flash, the room lit and the ground a few inches in front them the ground imploded. Instantly, the Leaf shinobi dodged out of harm's way and readied their weapons.

"Stay sharp Sakura," Neji called as the excitement cooled down. About half a second later the ground began to cave again. This time when the two tried to leap to safety, some unseen force brought them crashing back to the ground. Sakura winced slightly and tried to move, but it felt like her arms and legs had been bound together by invisible steel.

"Neji, I'm tied up!" Sakura yelled out as the dust settled.

"Damn it," Neji swore under his breath.

"I am as well Sakura," he called back. "It must be some rope made of chakra."

"I don't think the villagers were exaggerating this time." Sakura grinned. Neji could hear the level headed readiness in Sakura's voice and let out a silent laugh.

"So it seems. Are you up for a battle?" Neji smirked.

Sakura laughed. "Do you have to ask?"

"I wouldn't be so cocky if I were you!" A third voice sneered. Sakura felt her body dragged across the rough floor and then violently lifted about ten feet. The guy who'd spoken earlier appeared. He was a tall, muscular man with bronze skin and shoulder length black hair that stuck up everywhere. Sakura waved dangerously through the air for a few more seconds before the guy decided to bring her back down. But by that time, Sakura had conjured all her strength and broke free from the hold. She forced her body left just enough to latch on to the nearby wall with her chakra and run down. Meanwhile, Neji managed to move his arms just enough to use Gentle Fist and found it surprisingly easy to break the hold.

The man's attention was entirely focused on Sakura as he glared at her with angered shock. "Arrogant wench!"

"That's enough!" Neji snarled, catching the man off guard and fatally attacking with Gentle Fist. The man fell instantly and heavily to the ground.

"Neji---"

A dozen arrows went sailing through the air, missing the two by less than a centimeter. "The Master is expecting you."

The two turned to the other doorway where a man stood half concealed in the shadows. His voice was submissive and listless. Without another word and unconcerned with watching his back, the man turned to leave.

"W-wait what?" Sakura blurted. The man stopped instantly and apathetically looked over at Sakura. His shiny, black hair hung down his back and was kept behind the arrow case slung over his shoulders. Only his left eye was visible- the right being entirely covered by his hair- and it took in all its surroundings with blankness.

"You're the Leaf shinobi who are to try to take out Master- he's waiting outside." He turned once more and continued walking.

"And it's not a trap." The man added, stopping to turn and lock eyes with Neji. His gaze lingered for a moment before he turned in embarrassment. Sakura looked in confusion at Neji. Neither one was entirely sure of what to do.

"We have no choice," Neji growled. With weapons in hand, he and Sakura began following the aloof gentleman deeper into the house until they arrived at the middle where a manicured courtyard stood. The guy who'd led them in stood inside the courtyard beside the door with his eyes locked to the ground.

Sakura and Neji entered cautiously. In the middle of the yard loomed an extremely tall, bulkily built man with skin smeared with dirt and sweat. He was dressed in armor and at his feet two bodies slumped within their own shallow pool of blood.

"So you've arrived!" the man's grimy face lit up when they walked in. "I was beginning to think you'd be nothing but some no shows!"

Neji and Sakura had stopped near the doorway and stared at the man in confusion. A closer inspection at the scene gave them all they needed to know. One of the bodies at the man's feet was an old woman with thinning gray hair and draped on top of her was none other than Ginko.

A slow, compassionate smile spread across the man's face as he saw the two realized what had gone on.

"Don't be too hard on yourselves, he didn't intend to stab you in the back," he soothed nudging Ginko's lifeless body with his foot. "When he called you the first time he genuinely expected you to help, but the coot was such a fool. He knew he couldn't make the journey to your village himself so he had to find a fresh pair of legs. And who would've guessed! He stumbled upon Hatsuhara here. Of course he didn't know Hatsuhara worked for me or else he never would have given him the letter, but he had no idea, and he did give it to him, and when Hatsuhara showed it to me, I told him to do the obvious thing: take it to your village. Then when it had arrived safely, I kidnapped Ginko's wife and told him if he breathed one word about me knowing to you guys, then his wife was dead and so was he."

"B-but he didn't say anything to us." Sakura scoffed.

The man let out a carefree amused laugh. "I know! I was going to kill him anyway but he was too senile to realize it."

"Wait, why wouldn't you just throw the letter away when you saw it?" Sakura asked in confusion. Annoyance was brewing in her as she realized that this guy they were possibly supposed to be fighting seemed extremely longwinded and to top it all off her curiosity was just as great as her annoyance and she knew her questions had done nothing to quiet him.

The guy laughed. "Because that would be too easy of course…too predictable! That's why instead of letting Hatsuhara and Nowaki kill you out there I had them bring you in…Well Nowaki still needs to learn to be patient and to stop underestimating his opponents, but I guess he figured that out the hard way. But Hatsuhara here, why the boy's priceless! I've never seen him accidentally miss a target whether it's mobile or not! He's a natural! His reflexes are probably quicker than all of ours combined. He probably would've taken you both as quickly as you took Nowaki but that wouldn't be fair would it? After all you came all this way to fight **me**. It would have been predictable if I'd let Hatsuhara kill you, it would have been smart, it would've been easier. But I have no interest in the easy way out.---"

Neji was growing impatient, "Whoever you may be, we could care less about you and your cronies. That's not our purpose for being here."

"Oh of course! I apologize! And for the record, allow me to introduce myself, I am Arashi. Arashi Karukise." the man smiled patting his chest. Sakura looked on and couldn't help but thinking this all seemed familiar. The man extended his hand and without a word, Hatsuhara walked past the shinobi and towards the jovial man in the middle of the yard.

"But as I was saying, it's not Hatsuhara you've come to fight, it's me. It would be lovely if he could kindly be left out of this." Arashi had been twirling Hatsuhara's long hair between his fingers and was now gently stroking his hair. The emptiness in Hatsuhara's wide cerulean eyes seemed hollower than before.

Neji was getting annoyed. "I've no more interest in conversation," he scowled, the Byakugan activating on his pallid face.

Arashi sighed, resting his hand on Hatsuhara's neck. "Alright." He held out his free hand and, silently, Hatsuhara produced a slender, dangerously sharp arrow. The two Leaf ninja quickly pulled out their kunai and made ready to dodge the attack. But the arrow didn't go to his bow. Instead, Hatsuhara's plaintively placed the arrow in the larger man's open palm.

"Enough of this," Neji growled, throwing a handful of shuriken at the two. No sooner had the shuriken left Neji's hands than Hatsuhara had drawn four arrows, raised his bow, and shot all four off at once. The arrows collided with the shuriken and the projectiles all went clanging to the ground.

Sakura and Neji stood frozen in utter shock. Hastuhara's bow was still raised and his left elbow was still cocked beside his ear as the bow string slowly ceased vibrating and the older man's hand had yet to move from his neck. Without a sound Hatsuhara lowered the bow and his visible eye dropped back to the ground.

"Good job Hatsuhara." Arashi nodded in approval, now playing with the silent young man's ear. "Good job."

And with that, Arashi took the arrow in his palm, flipped it to get a better grip and sent it driving into Hatsuhara's abdomen. The young man fell instantly to the ground and the only noise he uttered was a choked gasp. Hatsuhara laid there - not quite dead yet-clutching around the arrow in his bleeding stomach.

Sakura's eyes widened as she watched. The kunai in her hand was gripped tighter with fury and horror. She looked into Hatsuhara's eyes- both visible now- and saw the same empty look. Like he had been expecting it all along. And from the display earlier, she knew that if he'd wanted, Hatsuhara could have warded off the attack, but he hadn't. As if he'd welcomed it.

His already pale skin grew paler and paler as the pool of blood around him grew. Arashi stepped over Hatsuhara's body and- ignoring the labored pants that now jerked from the dying man's bloody lips- he continued on towards the two.

"So shall we begin?"

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**So I was feeling uncreative and made Nowaki a ripoff Earth and Air Bender like guy. Yay for creativity, huh?**

**See ya soon! xoxoxoxoxo**


	21. Confessions

**Happy Birthday!**

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**Disclaimer: Still don't own the blonde headed kid's show.**

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Arashi charged instantly at the two. They both darted out of the way in opposing directions. Arashi stopped, chuckled. "Now let's see…who to go after **first**?"

He grunted as on the last word he went shooting out for Sakura- the closest to him. Arashi hammered punches in flurries and Sakura managed to block and dodge them all and she noted that the man was capable of impressive speed for his stature and for being clad in body armor. Sakura was appeared to go on the offense, when Arashi suddenly pushed her to the side then turned just as Neji was prepared to attack.

Sakura prepared to get off the ground, and realized she had landed in something wet. She looked down to see her hand and lower body stained red. She followed the pool to where Hatsuhara lay- finally dead. She jerked from the ground and pulled out a kunai then quickly ran away towards Arashi and Neji. The two were fighting hand to hand and Sakura leapt forward throwing the kunai at Arashi. He dodged it and quickly and unstably dodged as Neji lunged at him. The two continued alternating attacks and Arashi grew more and more off balance.

Sakura hit Arashi with a strong right and he tumbled backwards. The large man quickly stumbled to his feet just in time to dodge her follow up attack that sent the wall behind them crumbling to the ground. Arashi's wide, surprised eyes uncrossed and he quickly shook the dizziness from his head and wiped the trickle of blood from the corner of his mouth. Neji quickly flew forward with a kunai attack and Arashi dodged (more fell) to his left. Sakura saw the kunai in Neji's hand and quickly moved far away, accurately guessing what was coming next. Neji, glad Sakura understood, quickly slipped into Rotation.

Arashi flew backwards and lay sprawled on the ground, his chest rising and falling heavily. Sakura quickly returned to Neji's side, but when she looked in his eyes, she saw confusion. Neji was glaring down at the man who was slowly getting up. **Unfazed**.

"It's the same." Sakura gasped. And just like that, their battle long ago with the rogue ninja in the woods flooded into their minds.

"He has the armor." Neji observed, his upper lip curled upwards. "I thought this was regular body armor, but I was wrong."

"Arashi Karukise…Karukise! Neji, they must be related!"

"So it was you…" Arashi growled, finally up. Their heads snapped towards him. "I knew my brother had been killed by Leaf shinobi…they had been sent to guard that Ame girl…but what do you know…the very people who killed my little brother…and my beloved Hatsuhara…have fallen right into my hands."

Arashi stood up straight, his body seemingly healed and his eyes glowing with unimaginable malice.

"Shit…" Neji swore under his breath. Not only were they fighting a skilled, angry brute with advanced body armor and possibly a psychological disorder, but they were fighting one with a newfound personal vendetta against them.

Arashi's glare intensified. He began trembling slightly and his eyes began looking bloodshot in anger.

"I'm going to kill you now…just like you did my brother." Arashi's voice was quiet. But it trembled with anger and he literally spat the words through tightly set lips. And with that he charged at him, the two dodged quickly. Arashi stood his head rapidly snapping back and forth between the two and his mouth foaming slightly. He let out a deafening growl and stomped over to where Hatsuhara lay, he pushed him over with one arm and with the other he grabbed a handful of the arrows. He was no Hatsuhara when it came to aim, but he simultaneously threw the arrows so forcefully at the two that the ones on Neji's side travel nearly four yards and lodged deeply into a tree. He stooped down and ripped the arrow from Hatsuhara's body and picked up the last one on the ground next to him.

He hurled one at Sakura and hurled the one from Hatsuhara's body at her while she tried to dodge. The second arrow sliced across her arm as she leapt through the air. As she clutched her wound, she was caught off guard when Arashi sent his shoulder ramming into her ribs and she sailed hard into the wall perpendicular the one she had reduced to shambles.

Neji thought. The only move he could think of at this moment would be to either snap Arashi's neck and kill him that way or possibly attacking the face since Sakura had caused some damage there earlier. But that brought him also to another realization: with that body armor, Sakura might be the only person capable of finishing this fight.

Before Arashi could attack Sakura again, Neji successfully snuck up behind and in one fluid motion, leapt on his back and snapped his neck 180 degrees. Arashi managed to hoist Neji up and sent him sailing into the courtyard wall beside the door they entered, then Arashi slumped to the ground.

Sakura saw the scene out of one eye and let out an exhausted laugh. She struggled to push her battered body off the ground so she could make her way to Neji who was panting heavily and obviously injured. But she was less than halfway up before she froze. Out of the corner of her eye, she saw Arashi getting up his head still abnormally facing behind him. A loud series of cracking was heard as Arashi realigned his skull. Sakura stared at him with eyes wide in horror and amazement as she fell back to the ground.

_This could __**not**__ be possible._

"My bones are also made of the armor," Arashi sneered. "Good try though."

Arashi was glaring and began walking quickly as he made his way over to Neji who had propped himself up on one arm and was obviously as stunned as his teammate.

Neji was seriously hurt; Sakura could tell by the way he clutched his side which she hoped wasn't internally bruised. And she knew that her body didn't have much strength left either, but that was alright there was only one other option now…All she needed to do was make one more blow and she was certain that Neji would know what to do.

Sakura shakily stood. After taking a few deep breaths to stabilize her body, she sent a kunai flying at Arashi just as he was closing in on Neji. Neji cursed beneath his breath.

Why was Sakura doing this? She was in no condition to take this man on alone!

He tried to call out to her, but his voice was so feeble he couldn't even hear himself.

"You wouldn't just stay down, huh?" Arashi sneered. He walked over to her and Sakura replayed her strategy again and again in her head. Arashi flew at Sakura who look like she'd blow over. She barely leapt out of the way and winced as she dodged his next attack. She felt her body rebelling against the strain and knew she had to act fast.

Sakura shortened the distance between her and Arashi and sent her fist pounding right into Arashi's chest directly over his heart. She felt something shatter beneath her fingers right before Arashi hit her unbearably hard with a blow right to her appendix.

Sakura screamed in agonizing pain, and fell instantly to the ground, clutching her side. She was crying now.

Neji watched in horror as Sakura's writhing body heavily hit the ground. Everything around him seemed to slow as she helplessly curled in a ball and he felt as if his heart had just stopped beating within his chest.

Meanwhile, an earsplitting growl had erupted from Arashi's lips and he ran towards the back of the courtyard- his hand clutched over his entire upper chest.

Ignoring the sheer pain in his body, Neji shot up and ran quickly to Sakura. Arashi turned and saw but did nothing to stop him. He fell to his knees beside her and took her face in his hands. The look of pain had vanished and he stared down at her calm, bruised face with wide, horrified eyes. She was only unconscious, but Neji could tell that she didn't have much longer until she would fade from him forever.

A glossy thin film formed over Neji's eyes and he hissed in pain as he slowly bent down his head and kissed Sakura's forehead before gently laying it back on the ground.

As recovered as he would get, Arashi laughed in a smug voice dabbled with pain. "Seems like your precious little girlfriend is fading fast. But don't worry, I'll make sure I send you with her…to the afterlife- together forever."

As Arashi kept talking, he didn't realize the way Neji's jaw tightened, or the dangerous energy flowing within his body. Before he knew what hit him, Neji was had thrown a kunai right in between his rib cages and swiftly ran up and sent in driving within his armor. An ear shattering, cracking noise filled the air. The armor broke and crashed to the ground in dozens of pieces.

Arashi's eyes were wide. "H-How did you do that?"

Neji responded by suddenly and with full force, sending a burst of chakra right through his opponent's chest. Arashi groaned and was sent flying backwards and into a tree. Blood slowly leaked from his mouth.

"It wasn't me." Neji responded as if he were lost in thought. He looked behind him. "Sakura did it. She did all that, risked her **life**, just to make that one little crack on your chest; knowing that I'd see it, use it to destroy that armor of yours and stop you. She faced **death** just to make sure I got out of here alive…" Neji was quiet for awhile as his eyes narrowed in sadness.

"Why didn't you just let me kill her?" Arashi rasped out, breathing heavily. His teeth were now stained red from the blood as it shimmered brightly on his lips.

Neji turned to the man with angry eyes. "Six months."

"Wh-what?"

"Six months. Around seven or eight really. That's how long I spent denying to myself that I loved her. Approximately how long I spent playing with her heart and her emotions. **That's** how long I spent being so close to her, but pushing her so far away. And the things I said to her…I hurt her deeply, I'm aware of that. But I'm won't do that again…It took me too long…to drop my guard. She once told me…one night when we were alone together…that it's as if I've put up a shield all around me and I never let anyone in…and she was right. But she broke that…"

"Broke what?" Arashi sneered as he spat out blood.

A faint, barely visible smile tugged at Neji's lips as he answered. "She broke all my shields."

Arashi said nothing and Neji continued. "In a way, she released me. I am in _**love**_ with Sakura Haruno, and if you think I'm going to let you separate us, then you're _senile_!" Neji ran for Arashi and hit him once again in the chest, finishing him off.

Arashi's eyes opened wide in pain and a dying gasp escaped his lips before his body slipped lifelessly to the ground. Neji stared down at him with hateful eyes, then, suddenly, his Byakugan deactivated and he ran for Sakura, sliding down on the ground next to her.

**R&R please! ****See ya soon! xoxoxoxoxo**

**Chapter 22: So THIS is Love!**

**=D**

**Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto and company. (But that town from before and the people in there? Guess what….OWNED by Kisekilotus!**

"Sakura…" he whispered as he carefully scooped her up in his arms and stood up. Her breathing was growing faint. Neji tightly shut his eyes for a second as he held back the tears, then he took off out of the house, out of the town, and towards the village.

"Hold on for me Sakura," he whispered as he sprinted through the trees in a battle against life itself.

"Sakura…" Neji whispered again, hoping that she could somehow hear him in her distant state. "I love you. If there was ever a time I made you doubt that…then I am sorry. The things I said that night…I didn't mean any of it. I apologize."

The village was getting closer, Neji's body was in serious pain, but he was almost there and the pain was nothing he'd feel in comparison to if he were to lose Sakura.

"We're almost there Sakura. Hold on…" Neji raced through the forest near the Leaf Village with blinding speed and hoped that his voice in Sakura's ear would somehow keep her tethered to this Earth. The village gates could be seen in the distance and Neji's legs pumped faster beneath him.

"Neji…" Sakura whispered. Neji's eyes widened and he nearly stumbled but quickly regained composure.

"Sakura. I'm taking you back to the village…just hold on."

"…Are you hurt?" she whispered.

Neji shook his head; here she was near **death** and all she was worried about was **his** safety.

"Good." She smiled weakly. The smile did nothing to mask the way her face had twisted in pain.

"I love you Sakura," Neji whispered delicately to her for the first, and what he prayed wouldn't be the last, time. Her smile widened slightly and through her pain she even let out a small, happy laugh.

"I love you too Neji."

The two were in the Village gates, but Sakura couldn't tell. All she saw through her vision- that was growing blurrier by the second- was the small, genuine smile on Neji's beautiful face. The last thing she heard was Neji actually saying in a soft, sincere voice that he loved her.

The next thing she knew, she was being torn away from him. Her vision was fading, but she could see Neji beside her, blood soaking though his shirt. Sakura couldn't hear herself, but she knew she screamed…she was sure she did.

She looked up to see undistinguishable faces crowding around her, but she only wanted to see Neji who was bleeding profusely. Their mouths were moving but Sakura couldn't understand a word they were saying. She whispered out Neji's name, hoping he'd come for her. The sky above her began moving and she was barely able to connect that with the fact that she was being taken somewhere; **without **Neji. She tossed and turned until she felt the hard ground connecting with her body. A deafening scream shot out and Sakura couldn't even distinguish that it belonged to her. A fierce wave a pain racked her body and she grunted and cringed in anguish.

Neji was running towards her, and she screamed his name again, then afterwards felt her heart jump within her chest.

The faces were over her again as she saw hundreds of multicolored spots. Before she faded into a deep, dark abyss, she remembered seeing Neji's worried face above hers; tears falling quickly from his wide, concerned eyes.

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**R&R please!**** See ya soon! xoxoxoxoxo**


	22. So THIS is love!

**=D**

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**Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto and company. (But that town from before and the people in there? Guess what….OWNED by Kisekilotus!**

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"Sakura…" he whispered as he carefully scooped her up in his arms and stood up. Her breathing was growing faint. Neji tightly shut his eyes for a second as he held back the tears, then he took off out of the house, out of the town, and towards the village.

"Hold on for me Sakura," he whispered as he sprinted through the trees in a battle against life itself.

"Sakura…" Neji whispered again, hoping that she could somehow hear him in her distant state. "I love you. If there was ever a time I made you doubt that…then I am sorry. The things I said that night…I didn't mean any of it. I apologize."

The village was getting closer, Neji's body was in serious pain, but he was almost there and the pain was nothing he'd feel in comparison to if he were to lose Sakura.

"We're almost there Sakura. Hold on…" Neji raced through the forest near the Leaf Village with blinding speed and hoped that his voice in Sakura's ear would somehow keep her tethered to this Earth. The village gates could be seen in the distance and Neji's legs pumped faster beneath him.

"Neji…" Sakura whispered. Neji's eyes widened and he nearly stumbled but quickly regained composure.

"Sakura. I'm taking you back to the village…just hold on."

"…Are you hurt?" she whispered.

Neji shook his head; here she was near **death** and all she was worried about was **his** safety.

"Good." She smiled weakly. The smile did nothing to mask the way her face had twisted in pain.

"I love you Sakura," Neji whispered delicately to her for the first, and what he prayed wouldn't be the last, time. Her smile widened slightly and through her pain she even let out a small, happy laugh.

"I love you too Neji."

The two were in the Village gates, but Sakura couldn't tell. All she saw through her vision- that was growing blurrier by the second- was the small, genuine smile on Neji's beautiful face. The last thing she heard was Neji actually saying in a soft, sincere voice that he loved her.

The next thing she knew, she was being torn away from him. Her vision was fading, but she could see Neji beside her, blood soaking though his shirt. Sakura couldn't hear herself, but she knew she screamed…she was sure she did.

She looked up to see indistinguishable faces crowding around her, but she only wanted to see Neji who was bleeding profusely. Their mouths were moving but Sakura couldn't understand a word they were saying. She whispered out Neji's name, hoping he'd come for her. The sky above her began moving and she was barely able to connect that with the fact that she was being taken somewhere; **without **Neji. She tossed and turned until she felt the hard ground connecting with her body. A deafening scream shot out and Sakura couldn't even distinguish that it belonged to her. A fierce wave a pain racked her body and she grunted and cringed in anguish.

Neji was running towards her, and she screamed his name again, then afterwards felt her heart jump within her chest.

The faces were over her again as she saw hundreds of multicolored spots. Before she faded into a deep, dark abyss, she remembered seeing Neji's worried face above hers; tears falling quickly from his wide, concerned eyes.

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**The following chapter is the last mateys! R&R!**

**See ya soon! xoxoxoxoxo**


	23. Remedy

**So guys, this is the last chapter of Breaking the Shields of the Soul. I hope you enjoyed it, and I enjoyed hearing from you all!!!! **

**To StarWolf Magic, al2010, DarkfireRoseKitsune, minniemousemom, barrelchaser101, emeraldcherry, Peyton Cummings, Maiden Marmalade, Courageous Avalon, Gaara's Crimson Tears, Ami, Rach, LadyNorth76, I'm At My All Time Low, vampgirl09, Mayumi CresentMoon, Youkolvr, SmilezForever, Kinky-Nami-Lass, GoDrinkPinesol624, LynGreenTea, harualea, mignightsun000, Desperate Fool, fantasy4luvr, xxcherry-vixenxx, Iggyness, Cassan, megcabotreader, and anyone new who may review these chapters, THANK YOU!!!!!!!!!!!! For those who add(ed) me on author and/or story alert: THANK YOU!!!! To those who favorite(d) me or my story: THANK YOU!!!! To everyone who read this story: THANK YOU!!!!!**

**Thanks soo much for the reviews and the support once again you guys!!!!!!!!! You are the reason why I write!**

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**Disclaimer: I will say this for the last time for this story, I do not own Naruto. **

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Sakura remained in Intensive Care for eight days. She was drifting in and out of a coma, but she'd been never fully conscious enough to respond to questions. Lady Tsunade took care of her herself- finally managing to stabilize the seriously injured kunoichi. Sakura was cover in nasty surface wounds and she'd also had to have her appendix removed from the outrageously forceful attack.

On the ninth day, Neji sat in the windowsill of Sakura's single bed hospital room. He glanced out window then back to the hospital bed. Slowly, his eyes trailed over Sakura's face. He took in the closed, no longer swollen, eyes, the formerly bloody nose. He couldn't help vividly recalling Sakura before Lady Tsunade used her jutsu to heal her: the scraped cheekbones, the cut lip, the fading scrapes and bruises scattered across her pale face. His somber eyes dropped to the pure white sheet and he pinched the bridge of his nose tightly as he tried to forget about the way her body had been bruised, nearly broken. About the fading pink scar on her lower right abdomen. About the angry, bright red array of scratches and gashes that had covered the knuckles of her right hand. His eyes narrowed in pain as he rethought that day and he turned quickly to the window.

Neji was staring absently up at the cloudless sky when back on the bed, Sakura's eyelids tightened then fluttered open. The brightness of the room flooded her vision and she winced her eyes closed in pain as her pupils adjusted. Slowly, one by one, her eyes blinked open and her vision focused on her surroundings. Sakura stared at the ceiling for a few seconds before her eyes automatically went to the window. The shining green orbs widened when she saw Neji.

Sakura opened her mouth and tried to speak but nothing came out. Her tongue darted out to lick her dry lips. She swallowed then tried again. This time, a feeble, hoarse noise broke from her throat. Neji's head instantly snapped to the bed and his eyes widened.

"Sakura…" Neji whispered, jumping from the window and making in to her bed in two long strides. He knelt beside her bed and hesitantly placed a hand on her head.

His brow knitted. "How do you feel?" Neji asked and locked his troubled pearl eyes with her bright yet tired ones.

"Sore," Sakura let out a small, raspy laugh. "But other that that I'm fine."

She tried to sit up and winced slightly. Her hand instantly went to her stomach.

"You were badly injured, Sakura. Perhaps you shouldn't overexert yourself so soon."

Neji helped Sakura sit up and once she was situated, he poured her a glass of water from the pitcher kept on the bedside table. She took a couple of sips as Shizune walked into the room.

"Sakura, you're up! How do you feel?"

"Alright I guess, right here is tender though…" Sakura shrugged, placing her hand where the pink scar on her abdomen remained. A dull throbbing had started up after she'd moved.

"We had to remove your appendix. It's all healed, don't worry- it's just your body wasn't used to such movement yet. You of all people should know not to put so much strain on your body so quickly."

Sakura gave Shizune a guilty smile and the older woman continued. "I'll send Lady Tsunade in to check on you. Be back."

The closed softly and Sakura let out a light sigh and looked around the room. Her eyes rested on two vases of flowers that she hadn't noticed before were sitting in the window.

"Those from you?" Sakura asked playfully, nodding her head at the flowers. The hoarseness in her voice had gradually smoothed over.

"The daisies are. Your teammates purchased you the mixed bouquet. Naruto's been over to visit you everyday. So have many others- they've all sent well wishes."

"How long have I been in here?"

"You were in a coma for eight days."

Sakura's eyes widened. "Wow…"

"Yes," Neji agreed with serious nod. "It's lucky we have such a skilled and concerned medical team in Konoha. Your attachment to Lady Hokage didn't hurt any either; she's come in to check on you at least three times per day."

Sakura nodded in thankfulness then she was struck by something. "How do you know all this?" Sakura asked, a small smile playing on her lips. Neji averted his gaze to the white comforter.

"I've…remained here all eight days…" he muttered. The room fell awkwardly silent and, finally, Sakura touched the back of Neji's hand and he flipped his over and clasped their hands together. At that moment, Shizune returned, trailing behind Lady Tsunade.

"Sakura, good to see you're awake!" Tsunade beamed. "How are you doing?"

Sakura nodded. "I'm fine. I was telling Shizune earlier that my lower abdomen was sore, but she explained that I'd had surgery so I know it's nothing but a little post operation pain."

Lady Tsunade let out a relieved sigh. "It's nice to have patients knowledgeable in the medical field- you guys basically look after yourselves when you're able."

The women laughed and Tsunade continued. "Nevertheless, I want to look at that area and see how it's healing. Everything should be fine."

The Hokage approached the bedside and Neji respectfully left the room. Tsunade pulled up Sakura's hospital gown and examined the scar.

"It's healing nicely," she observed happily. She began gently pressing around the area, questioning if any pain was felt. When Sakura said she felt fine, Tsunade was about to use a healing jutsu to finish up the recovery process (for safety reasons, the Hokage had hesitated using the jutsu after surgery while Sakura was in a coma) but Sakura stopped her.

"Do you…think we could…let it heal on its own time?" Sakura requested, trailing her finger across the pink, slightly raised scar. Tsunade raised her brows, then a slow smile formed on her lips.

"If that's what you'd like." She agreed and pressed on with the examination. After finding everything was check, she lowered Sakura's gown and recovered the patient with the thin blanket. Shizune was sent to get Neji from the hall beside the room door and when the two returned, the blonde woman gave them a status report.

"Well Sakura, you're doing just fine," she said to the couple. "With proper care, your stay in the coma gave your body time to recuperate. I'm going to have you stay here tonight so we can be certain everything's okay before we send you home- where you **will** take it easy for the following few days."

Sakura nodded. "Alright."

"I know you're stubborn, but don't be as bull headed as Neji and save us all some trouble." Tsunade continued, shooting an indifferent Neji a look.

"What happened?" Sakura asked looking back and forth between Neji and Tsunade.

"Well it was understandable that Neji carried you three miles despite how beaten up his body was- it was possibly you two's only chance for survival. But once you were in our care, you were safe, and Neji needed to worry about himself at that point. Of course he had to be difficult and we were force to put him on mandatory bed rest and twenty four hour surveillance to keep tabs on him."

Sakura looked to Neji, who was staring out the window again as if he didn't even know they were talking about him.

"But you should both be fine now," Lady Tsunade smiled. "Just remember to rest up--the **both** of you. Is there anything you need Sakura?"

"No, thank you." Sakura ran her hand through her hair. Tsunade nodded and announced that she'd stop by later to check on Sakura, then the two older women left.

"You were injured." Sakura spoke finally. "Where?"

"I had a few cuts and bruises as you did and two of my ribs had mild fractures in them. It was nothing too serious." Neji shrugged the matter off. Sakura suppressed a sigh and patted on the bed next to her.

"Sit down."

Neji hesitated, and then accepted her offer. She leaned her head against his broad, strong shoulder- gently at first to make sure he wasn't hurt. The two sat in silence until finally Sakura spoke.

"…Did you mean what you said back there Neji?" She asked. There was a tremor of fear in her voice.

"Hmm?"

"In the forest…you…said you loved me. Did you mean it?" Sakura chewed on her bottom lip and kept her head rested on Neji's shoulder until he sat her up to look him in the eyes.

"Of course I meant it Sakura. Every word. I love you, and I apologize that I waited until you were facing death to tell you that." Neji's eyes were intense as the held with Sakura's. A small breathless laugh escaped her lips.

"I love you too, Neji." Sakura beamed. She threw her arms around his neck and he held her tightly in a hug. The two pulled apart and gently, Neji touched their lips together.

"Sakura…" he began again, pulling back just enough to lock eyes with her. "I apologize for what I said to you that night. I was angry and frustrated, but I should not have taken it out on you. The things I said were uncalled for and unforgivable…but I hope you can find it in your heart, to forgive me anyway."

A small smile tugged at the rosette's lips. "Already done. And I'm sorry too. I was just as hotheaded as you were- just as eager to pick a fight. I said some things that were out of line too. I'm sorry."

"It's alright," Neji smiled, caressing her cheek. He pulled her back in to kiss her. Sakura rested her head on Neji's chest and let out a light, sarcastic laugh.

"Well this sure is one hell of a way to make up: in a hospital room after both of us were on the verge of death." Sakura chuckled.

Neji raised his brows and nodded. "It's sad that we don't realize the value of things until we come within inches- seconds- of losing it…When I held your face in my hands Sakura- after you had taken on Arashi alone- and I realized…you were minutes away from being gone from me forever…I felt…well I can't even began to describe how I felt, but I know I never want to feel that way again. And all the pain and regret I had about the argument about the things I said and the things I didn't say…I'd never prayed in my life until that moment. I'd never wanted something in my life more than I wanted your safety. I love you Sakura. I will never be perfect, I'm not promising that, but…I promise you Sakura I'll do everything in my willpower to make sure you're satisfied." Neji's muscles had tightened and Sakura swore she saw a slight glimmer of tears within his eyes.

"We both have things we need to work on," Sakura placed a shaky hand on Neji's cheek. The fingers of her other hand were absently running along the scar on her belly. Sakura was crying softly now, but didn't even bother to wipe away the tears. "But…I think our love is strong enough to make it through, yeah?"

Neji kissed her lips softly and a small smile was on his placid face. "Yeah," he whispered. The smile on Sakura's face stayed as she settled back on the bed, her head in Neji's chest and his strong arms around her.

It was fitting that they were in a hospital, because at that moment in time, both of them realized that for the past year, they had been running on empty. That there was a piece of them missing. A piece just waiting to be fitted in. It had been a long period. Full of setbacks and advances. Full of moments of ecstasy, regret, loneliness, sorrow. Both had discovered things about themselves and felt feelings towards one another that they could never fathom existed. They were hurting. They were broken. Broken down to millions of pieces impossible to mend.

Yes it was fitting that they were in a hospital, but useless as well. Because they'd already found their remedy. Found it right in each other's arms.

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**Well, that's that. I hope you enjoyed it and thanks a bunch for the reviews!!! I appreciate all of you and look out for me in the future!!! I have a series of oneshots coming and a few more story ideas, so look for it!!!!! Hearts to all and thanks soooo much!!!!**

**Read and Review please!!!!**

**See ya soon! xoxoxoxoxo**


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